


Salvation Valley: Nature's Vengeance

by Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: And some other stuff too, Death by neck snap, Gen, I'm not very good at writing backstories I don't think, Implications of suicide, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Natural Disasters, Out of Character, Pierre's kind of a jerk, Possible Artistic License in regards to elevators, Weird Plot Shit, funny how that's an actual tag, possible ooc, strange hopefully not too blasphemous backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-01-23 00:31:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 50
Words: 42,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12494372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth/pseuds/Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth
Summary: Pelican Town has become too polluted, and now the earth is fighting back.The inhabitants are left trying to salvage their town, but what price will they pay for their interference?(Don't let the number of chapters intimidate you; there's a lot of them because they're fairly short, and also my pacing skills are terrible. Rating has been upped to be safe)





	1. We All Fall Down

Although the tremors came from deep below the surface, there was no mistaking the immense magnitude that it held. 

It could have just been that he was fairly close to the mines, however, hence the more powerful sensation. But maybe it wasn’t a good idea to take any risks right now. 

Unless it would also be a good idea to see if anything went wrong. 

Crawling out of his sleeping bag, Linus stepped out of his tent, stretching to get any kinks out of his limbs. He then took a glance at the carpenter’s house, seeing nothing change. No lights turned on, none of the family coming outside to investigate, nothing. 

To this, Linus breathed a small sigh of relief. Perhaps it would be better if no others were involved, to minimize the possible casualties. 

Now, in the silence of late night, he made his way to the entrance to the mines. Once there, he could just make out some odd creature moving about inside. 

“Who is it?” He called to them. “Are you one of the forest creatures?” Linus didn’t get an answer. Carefully, he stepped in to get a better look. 

Whatever it was had its face obscured, save for a pair of beady little eyes underneath a hat adorned with a pair of horns. 

The creature skittered over and grabbed Linus by the hand, leading him to the nearby elevator that went down deep into the mines. 

As they went, it began speaking in a tongue that Linus could not entirely identify. It had been too long since he had heard it in length. Going by the changes in its speech, it sounded as though this creature was telling him something most urgent. 

Soon, once more Linus felt a tremor rise up from below, this one more powerful than before. It took a while for it to subside, before Linus could stand up straight. 

Linus then placed a hand on the chattering creature, quieting it. 

“My friend, what is happening? Is the earth in danger?” But he didn’t get an answer to this, spoken or not. 

Almost immediately after the last shaking episode, a full blown earthquake hit. This time, it somehow caused the elevator cord to snap, sending the two plummeting to the absolute depths below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After some consideration, I've decided to make this a multi chapter.


	2. The Fallout, The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The results of the tremors have become evident. But how could only a series of earthquakes cause what seems to be impossible damage? Is there something else at work here?

The next morning, the mountain clearing was trashed with fallen trees and uprooted shrubs. Linus’ tent, which normally stood proudly upright behind the house, had been crushed by a nearby tree. 

With a hefty amount of willpower and pushing, Robin and her family managed to get out through the front door, which had been blocked by another fallen tree. 

“Oh dear…” It was worse than she’d thought. All the uprooted plants and trees had said roots exposed, revealing an ugly network of interconnected tendrils with clumps of dirt attached to some of them. 

Indeed, it were as if the apocalypse itself had come forth, or at least was sending a warning that it was. 

“Shouldn’t we wait until Sebastian wakes up?” Her daughter Maru said behind her. “What if he thinks we got lost or something?” 

“Sebastian will be fine, honey,” Robin told her. “He’s an adult, and he can take care of himself. Personally I’m surprised he could sleep through all of that last night.” Back at the front of the house, her husband Demetrius was inspecting the mess around the house. 

“It’s amazing…” He uttered to himself. “Going by the damage inflicted, the earthquakes had to have been quite high on the Richter scale. And yet none of us had died.” 

He looked up at the house itself. “But I suppose I can also attribute that to Robin’s amazing carpenter skills.” 

Demetrius could then hear Robin chuckling behind him, presumably flattered by this compliment. Then he realized he was falling behind his wife and daughter, and made to catch up to them. 

As he did so, however, Demetrius felt something hit him in the face. Grabbing it off, he saw it to be an empty bag of chips. 

Looking down at it, he then looked to see far more garbage and litter than he’d ever expected. Empty soda cans, snack wrappers, used condoms, and many other disgusting pieces of trash were strewn about the area. Not even the earthquakes could hide it. 

Now overcome with a wave of disgust, Demetrius crumpled the bag and shoved it into his pocket. Then he resumed catching up with Robin and Maru. 

…

No matter what part of her remaining house that Leah rummaged through, she found all her paintings smashed, her sculptures having destroyed any furniture they were nearby. All her art supplies were either broken, stained, or snapped. To say nothing of the side of her house that got smashed by an enormous fallen tree. 

Leah crawled through the remnants of all her hard work, tears pouring from her eyes. She had just wanted it all to be a bad dream. But it didn’t change, now matter how many times she pinched herself. 

“Gone…” She whispered. “It’s all gone…” 

Outside hadn’t fared much better, when she managed to stumble out of her house. The lake, once a beautiful source of inspiration for her, was now filthy and overflowing. Several corpses of cows and chickens, most likely from the nearby farm, floated on the surface.

All Leah could do was stare in a state of shock and fear. With plenty of effort, though, she forced herself to turn and move to see if her neighbors were all right. 

She regretted it immediately. Marnie’s farm was completely demolished, nothing more than rubble and splinters. In front, Marnie and her family stood there, in complete silence. 

“Marnie?” She managed to choke their names out. “Shane, Jas?” 

Jas and Marnie looked behind them to see her, Jas having clear signs of imminent crying. Shane, on the other hand, said nothing, and just kept staring. 

The moment Leah was close enough to them, however, he sank to his knees, still with that shocked look on his face. 

“Shane…?” Marnie put a hand on his shoulder. As if this were some invisible cue, Shane doubled over and lay his forehead onto the ground. 

Marnie then held Jas close, with Leah standing nearby, as Shane proceeded to scream his lungs out in pure anguish. 

…

Willy regretted stepping outside once the stench hit. He regretted it even more once he saw the source. 

Countless dead fish were practically blanketed over the ocean floor. There was little, if any, of the actual ocean to be seen. Intermingled with the fish were things like discarded soda cans and medical waste. Were it not for his house miraculously staying up during the tremors, he didn’t think he’d be able to handle all of it. 

“Oh, that’s a cursed image if ever I saw one…” He pulled up his shirt collar over his mouth and nose, coughing from the putrid smell of dead fish. 

Now Willy scanned the dock, trying to find something of any kind of use in this hopeless situation. He didn’t. 

What he did see was his neighbor, standing at the far end of the deck. Besides his long hair being moved by a slight breeze, he stood as still as a statue, his arms crossed tightly. 

“Elliott? Ye okay there?” Willy didn’t receive a response as he approached him. “Sure ye don’t want something to cover yer face up or something? Or get away from this stink?” 

He pulled off his hat and offered it to Elliott, who didn’t even acknowledge it. Nothing Willy said would snap him out of it. 

Once Willy realized that he wasn’t getting anywhere, he sighed. “Look, Elliott. If ye need me, I’ll be in town seein’ if any o’ the buildings there been destroyed. When yer done with whatever it is yer doing here, feel free to come look fer me.”

As he then quietly walked off the docks and to town, Willy somehow didn’t hear the sound of feet against creaking wood, or the splash of the contaminated water that followed.


	3. Surprise, Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two paths begin, unknown to each other, but in parallel. Will they converge at some point later?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might want to get used to my failed attempts at sounding all poetic or whatever you might call it.

In the stifling darkness of the bottom of the mine, both of those on the faulty elevator lay still on the ground. The powerful heat from lava underground could be felt from its sweltering presence. 

Had either of them moved at all at some point, they would have certainly felt the heat by now. But of course, it was just short of a miracle that the both of them survived at all. 

Underneath Linus, the Dwarf stirred, and wriggled out from under him. He then took a quick survey of the area, which barely looked anything like it did before. The two pillars on both sides of the room had fallen and smashed against the ground, broken into pieces. On the opposite side of the elevator shaft, there looked to be an enormous gash leading to a previously undiscovered area. 

Feeling a sense of foreboding, the Dwarf ran back over and shook Linus’ shoulder to wake him up. Linus, in turn, groaned and tried to shake off any debris that might have fallen onto him. Then he looked up at the Dwarf. 

“Oh, wonderful! You are safe, my little friend,” Linus told him as he tried to pull himself out from under the wreckage, to no avail. “On the other hand, it seems I’m stuck here.”

Hearing this caused the Dwarf to start panicking, leading to Linus attempting to calm him down. 

“Come now, I should be fine, but I do need you to help me in the meantime.” He looked for anything that could be used as proof for what he needed to do, before just settling on ripping a scrap of his clothing off. He handed it to the Dwarf. 

“This may not be easy, but it is vital: Take this, and get to the forest. You should find a tower in the far west. That is where the Wizard Rasmodius resides. Take this to him, and bring him back here. This should be proof enough for him, I hope. If not, then do what it takes to convince him. Can I trust you to do this?” 

The Dwarf looked at the scrap of cloth, and quickly nodded. He then skittered off toward the closest exit, a nearby ladder, leaving Linus alone in the depths of the mine. 

…

It wasn’t Sebastian’s alarm clock that woke him up this morning; rather, it was his cell phone. Groaning in frustration and irritation over being woken up, he blindly grabbed for it, knocking it onto the floor in the process. 

Sebastian then rolled his eyes, and slid out of bed onto the floor like a drowsy slug. Then he resumed patting around for it. The entire time, its shrill ringing pierced his ears. When he finally got a hold of it, he looked at the name that popped up: Sam. 

Growling, he answered it. 

“This better be good, Sam,” Sebastian mumbled into the phone, as he grabbed onto the railings of his bed to pull himself up. 

“Well, good morning to you too, sunshine!” Sam chirped into the phone, a little too cheery for Sebastian’s tastes. “I’m surprised you were able to sleep at all last night.” 

Now this was a bit of a deviation from the usual morning conversation. Sebastian made a face as he reached his dresser and rummaged for his outfit of the day. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Come on, Seb! You didn’t feel all that last night? Jeez, how heavy a sleeper are you?” 

Sebastian groaned again. “Come on Sam, I’m not in the mood for jokes right now.”

“No, seriously, man! Have you even looked outside?” 

Once Sebastian had his pants and socks on, he sighed deeply as he went upstairs, carrying his hoodie with him as he tried slipping it on. 

“Well, Sam, that’s kinda hard to do when you sleep in a basement,” He said as he managed to get his hoodie on and make his way outside. “Maybe you should try it sometime and see how well you notice things-”

But when Sebastian got outside, he was stunned at the mess that lay before him; plants were uprooted, the lake was on the brink of flooding over, and part of the mountain had crumbled to pieces. Mixing in with it all was trash of all sorts: food wrappers, used condoms, plastic rings, and so on. 

It was enough for him to drop his phone. He gaped at it all with his mouth open like a fish. 

“Seb? Hey, Sebastian! You still there?” It took him a moment to pick up his phone and answer Sam’s questions. 

“I’ll call you back, Sam,” he borderline whispered before hanging up, much to the sudden protests of his pal. Then he walked out into the area, staring at it all in a mixture of fear and awe. "No way...How come I didn't hear any of this last night?" He was then distracted by a sound coming from the cave nearby. With a hefty dose of caution, Sebastian approached.


	4. Crushed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sense of fear is engulfing the townsfolk. Why is this?

Something that the Dwarf noticed right away as he went through the mines was the lack of danger. Normally by now, he would have been ambushed by slime, or one of the Shadow Brutes. 

But so far, there was nothing. Nothing but rocks and ore deposits surrounded him as he made his way up to the surface. 

The Dwarf should have felt relieved, but instead was overcome with fear. If the monsters were not in the caves, that meant they were elsewhere, no doubt causing trouble and bringing harm to others. 

He tried not to think about it, as he instead put his focus back on what Linus had told him to do. 

It took what felt like an eternity, with a hundred and twenty floors and a lot of falling down involved, but amazingly, the Dwarf reached the top. 

Now, he took a quick stop to his usual place in the cave, gathering up what he could just in case. Unfortunately, this meant he was weighed down more than he should’ve been. 

Still, the Dwarf pressed on, intent on finding his way to the Wizard. 

…

Having gotten as close as he wanted to by the entrance without actually going in, Sebastian was caught off guard by something running out into the open. He then watched as it ran off towards the forest, jumping over any fallen logs on the way. 

“What the…?” He walked away from the cave, dumbfounded by this. Once the odd creature was out of his sight, he turned back towards the cave. 

Sebastian was caught off guard again, this time by the sound of rustling in the nearby bushes. Breaking out in a cold sweat, he took several trembling steps towards them. 

“Um...Hello? Anybody there?” Then, something suddenly jumped out towards him, knocking him to the ground with a yelp. 

…

Due to the sudden natural awakening from last night, the whole town was in an uproar. Mayor Lewis was having a hard time getting everything in order. 

Had the Community Center ever been repaired, he would have gathered everyone there. Instead, the townsfolk had to congregate in the saloon. 

“All right, everybody! Now settle down!” Lewis’ demands went unheard. Behind him, Shane was in his usual spot, sipping beer and glowering at everyone. Slowly, he walked to the front where Lewis was standing, still glaring at the townsfolk. 

The commotion was getting worse the more invested in their conversations everyone got. Lewis was about to shout out again when he heard the sound of glass breaking. 

Everyone turned to look at Shane, who’d thrown his beer glass to the floor, shattering it into pieces. Then he turned to go back to his spot, but not before pointing to Lewis next to him. 

“You know you’re going to have to pay for that,” the bartender Gus said to Shane when the latter sat back down. Shane just directed his glaring at him, waving him off with one hand while leaning on the other. Then both looked over at Lewis. 

Lewis understood that now would be the chance to start everything. Clearing his throat, he now addressed the townsfolk. Unfortunately, he didn’t even begin to start with his speech to everyone. 

Just as he opened his mouth, a massive earthquake, much like the ones from last night, started ripping through the place. 

All too quickly, everyone was falling to the floor, some covering the others and holding each other. Around everyone was the sound of shattering bottles, liquor splattering everywhere, and the larger objects smashing everything in front of them. 

In the commotion, two of the townsfolk slipped out mostly unnoticed. It meant, of course, that they weren’t around to witness the aftermath of this earthquake. 

Once everything calmed again, everybody stood up from where they were, surveying the new amount of damage. 

“Everybody all right?” Lewis asked of them. He answered his own question once he turned around and looked behind the bar. 

The entire shelf had toppled over onto itself, crushing all in its way. Unfortunately, that included Gus. 

Everybody was silent as the reality of this sank in for them. In fact, nobody knew what to say for the likeable bartender, who no doubt had listened to so many of them speak of their sorrows. 

Getting up from where he’d fallen to the floor, Shane got to his feet and leaned over the bar to inspect the scene more closely. Then he directed his gaze to Lewis. 

“Do I still have to pay for the broken beer mug?” He asked with a seemingly unmoved expression. But just as Lewis began scolding him for being so insensitive, there came another sound. 

This time, it was knocking on the door. A moment of silence, and it happened again. The second time, it almost sounded angry.

“Is anybody going to answer that?” Someone cried out. No one volunteered. All they did was stand around, waiting with dread. 

One more time, the knocking was heard, this time quite hard and loud. So hard it fact, that it broke the door down and splintered it. 

Everyone still alive in the bar was left in fear and shock over what now stood in the doorway before them.


	5. Think Before You Speak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dwarf reaches the last part of his journey. Can he make it?

“Is that so…” Rasmodius was surprised enough when he found one of the Junimos in his home. His surprise became greater when he learned why. 

The reason, of course, was not good. 

“Why is this? Please tell me! It would explain why everything is disturbed!” The Junimo went silent now, like it already said too much as is. 

“I assure you,” Rasmodius said to it in an effort to get it to open up, “whatever you believe is threatening you, I will make certain you will not come to any harm. Now please, tell me why all this is happening!” 

This didn’t work. Just as Rasmodius was about to resort to more drastic measures, he was interrupted by a rapid series of knocking at his door. He raised a hand to the Junimo to tell it to stay there, and went to answer it. 

…

The Dwarf’s worst fears were made a reality once he made it to the forest; Just as he’d gotten halfway to his destination, he was ambushed by Shadow Brutes. 

The monsters were snarling, and they looked quite hungry. They surrounded the Dwarf, with the clear intent to rip him apart. Shaking like crazy, he sped through a gap in between two of them. 

Scared out of his mind, the Dwarf ignored the pain in his feet, which came from nonstop running. Then, to his horror, he tripped over a stone on the ground. 

He scrambled to get back to his feet. In that short amount of time, the Shadow Brutes had caught up with him, and proceeded to literally nip at his heels. The Dwarf didn’t dare look behind him. 

Instead, the Dwarf pulled out a cherry bomb he’d grabbed before he left the cave. Lighting it, he frantically threw it behind him. The loud boom that ensued was mingled with the death cries of at least one of the Brutes. 

If nothing else, it bought him a little time. 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the Dwarf had made it to the Wizard’s Tower. In his frenzied panic, he rapidly banged his fists against the wooden door. The remaining Shadow Brutes were already advancing on him again. 

They’d almost reached him when the door finally opened. Not bothering with formalities, the Dwarf skittered inside. 

…

Rasmodius couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at his sudden visitor. He didn’t get a chance to ask what the occasion was, though, as the Shadow Brutes were attempting to get through his door. 

Thinking quickly, he grabbed ahold of a nearby staff, and pointed it at the Brutes while conjuring some magic spell. In seconds, they all shrieked and dissipated. As soon as all of them were gone, he forced the door to close itself. 

“Certainly that wasn’t on the list of planned events for me today,” Rasmodius muttered. Then he turned to the Dwarf, suddenly furious. “What is the meaning of this?! Why have you come here uninvited, and bringing those monsters with you?!” 

The Dwarf began jumping up and down, and pulled out the scrap of cloth that Linus had given him. Rasmodius snatched it out of his hands, his anger disappeared as quickly as it had come. 

“Where did you get this?” He asked of the Dwarf. The Dwarf responded by quickly jabbering in its native language, which made translation nigh impossible. “And please tell me in a slower pace. It’s been too long since I’ve heard the old language firsthand."

Immediately, the Dwarf complied. The entire time, the Junimo watched the two of them, a tiny frown upon its face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the notes from the other chapters seem to suddenly disappear, it's because I still don't really know how the site works. Any help on how to figure out how it all works would be very welcomed.


	6. The Light, She Burns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two friends in search of one of their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I don't reply to comments all that often, I apologize greatly for that. I'm not good when it comes to that sort of thing (I will try to explain anything I left unclear, but otherwise I'll generally keep quiet). Just know that your comments and Kudos make me very happy, and help me keep going when it comes to writing.

“Please tell me you know what we’re doing,” Abigail asked of Sam when they reached the mountains. Sam just looked at the screen of his phone, not looking too concerned. Then he looked up at her with a big grin. 

“Of course I know what we’re doing, Abby! We’re going to go find where Seb got off to! Who knows, he probably went back to his basement like he always does.” 

The two did their best not to trip over any debris or fallen branches. When Sam got his pant leg caught on a stubborn bramble, Abigail rolled her eyes and got him free with no effort at all. 

“Our parents are going to kill us when we get back. You know that, right?” 

Sam just shrugged, seemingly unfazed by this. “If it means we get Seb to come out of his hiding place, my mom can kill me all she wants!” 

He then pressed his finger against his phone’s screen a few times, making an attempt to call Sebastian. Sam held his phone out with his outstretched arm, like some kind of makeshift dowsing rod. 

Abigail just pinched the bridge of her nose as she listened to the first couple of rings. “Is yelling his name too primitive for you? What if his phone’s turned off?” 

She went ignored, as Sam walked forward, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of Sebastian. Left with little other choice, she followed behind him. On the way, she stepped on various gross things, among them unfinished lollipops and used condom wrappers. Tentatively, she picked one up. 

“Ewww…” Looking a bit closer, despite not wanting to, she read the brand name on it aloud: “‘Product of the Joja Corporation’. I’m starting to see why Dad hates these guys.” 

Abigail turned to tell more of this to Sam, only to notice he’d stopped some ways away. She rolled her eyes, but ran the distance between them. 

Once she got close enough to him, Abigail noticed Sam looking intently through a set of bushes. She could hear the sound of Sebastian’s phone ringing when she got even closer. 

“Find him already?” Sam said nothing, and just slowly shook his head. Then he pointed with his free hand to something through the bushes. 

“What is that thing?” Again, no response. But this time Sam walked into the brush area, with Abigail still behind him. 

…

It had been a terrible idea to come up from the sewers, and he knew it. But no matter what he tried to say, his brethren would not hear of it. 

Now, Krobus was laying in the grass, the searing heat of the sun beating down on him. Next to him, a small rectangular device kept lighting up and making ringing sounds that pierced through his ears. 

If it didn’t hurt so much to move, and if he had arms, he’d try and make it stop blaring those noises. 

With immense pain, Krobus managed to get to his knees, and scooted a couple of feet away from it. Then he toppled back over. All he could do now was make plaintive cries of sheer agony. 

That and listen to a new pair of voices that were nearing him. 

“Man, whatever this is looks beat up,” Krobus heard a man’s voice speak first. 

“Beat up or not, this sure ain’t Sebastian,” a woman’s voice spoke next. “It looks cool though.” 

Krobus didn’t dare try to turn over and see who it was. He did, however, feel a pair of hands try to lift him to his feet. 

“Maybe he knows where he went!” The man leaned down to get a better look at Krobus’ face. “Hey pal. Did you see a guy in all black around here anywhere? I’m asking because that’s his phone you got with you.” 

He could barely say any actual words, let alone answer his question. Krobus just kept shielding his face from the sun. 

“Come on, Sam. Quit crowding him.” The woman shooed her friend away before kneeling in front of him. “You need to be someplace else?” 

All Krobus could do was say word fragments like, “Ah...Yah…Bah…” and nod to her request. He was then carefully lifted onto the woman’s back, and carried someplace a little safer than out in the hot sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, though. Why does Krobus not have arms?


	7. A Pair of Threes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One side is searching, and so is another. What shall happen when they converge?

“Marlon!” Lewis cried out when he saw just who it was at the door to the Saloon. “You just about gave all of us a heart attack!”

With a not entirely misplaced stoicism, Marlon just stepped into the Saloon, shifting a bloodied sword with his good arm. Some more blood stained his face, and part of the front of him. 

“Sorry about that,” he said in a low, slightly rumbling voice. “I was a little too busy getting here.” Marlon then slung his sword over his shoulder. “See, I’m not really one to sit down and get tore apart by monsters.” 

Lewis was taken aback at this casual admission. “Monsters?” 

All Marlon did was nod slowly to this. “Walking skeletons, Shadow monsters, Stone golems; you name it, some of them showed up. Personally I’m surprised they haven’t reached town already.” 

“And your partner Gil? What of him?” 

To this question, Marlon shook his head. “Didn’t make it.” 

While the two were going on discussing the imminent threat to the town, Abigail’s parents, along with Sam’s mother, had just realized the two had gone missing. 

“Caroline, did you know when she left?” Pierre whispered to his wife. But Caroline just shook her head. 

“Sam’s gone too!” Their neighbor Jodi whispered to them. “Do you think they left when that most recent earthquake hit?” 

Before hearing their answer, she turned away and bit her lip in worry. “I can only imagine how much danger they’re in right now…” 

…

“So where’d you find this place, Abby?” Sam asked her as they came to a hidden part of the forest. 

Abigail shrugged, careful not to jostle Krobus too much. “I come here a lot when my dad’s being annoying. And I mean a lot.” 

Sam nodded, admiring the location. “Nice. Maybe once all this craziness is over we can bring Sebastian here for camping sometime.” 

“Yeah, if we can manage to pull him out from his basement, and reintroduce him to the world of the living!” 

The two snickered, which apparently woke Krobus, given the moans of pain coming from him. Right away, Sam walked up to him and put a hand on what he assumed to be his back. 

“Hey, buddy!” He said to him in a soft voice. “You feeling any better? You look a little better, at least.” 

Krobus didn’t answer, save for a strangled noise that quickly petered out. 

“Yeah, this looks like a good spot,” Abigail said to the both of them, as she led them to a large stump nearby. She then bent down to let Sam take a hold of Krobus. “Too bad I can’t take him home. He’d probably make a good pet.” 

“I don’t think David would like being replaced, though, Abby,” Sam told her with a chuckle in his voice. Abigail happily joined in on his amusement. 

Their laughing stopped abruptly when they heard rustling coming from nearby. Then their blood ran cold. 

“Oh, dammit! I think we were followed!” She said in a much quieter voice now. Sam said nothing, just sat closer to the other two with his eyes wide. 

…

Rasmodius had come with the Dwarf this time, with the Junimo he’d been talking to earlier perched on his shoulder. 

“Unless you’re aware of a shortcut, I don’t believe this is the correct way to the mines,” he said to the Dwarf as he tried to keep up. “Come now, we’re wasting time.” 

The Dwarf kept walking at a brisk pace, before suddenly stopping. Before Rasmodius could ask him what was wrong, he suddenly leapt into a set of bushes with a sharp cry. 

“You’d think he’d caught sight of some valuable treasure or something,” he mumbled to the Junimo. He then carefully stepped over to where the Dwarf was standing now. 

Now the Dwarf had his fists up, taking on a fighting stance. Rasmodius looked over in the direction he was facing, and saw why he was doing that. 

…

Sam and Abigail just looked at each other nervously, thinking of what to do now that this new creature had shown up and seemed hostile. 

But hostile or not, he didn’t appear to be much of a threat. And he was quickly subdued by who showed up next. 

“Must you bring up your past grudges now, when there are more dire circumstances at play here?” The older man said while picking up the little creature. 

With a glimmer or recognition in her eyes, Abigail leaned forward and pointed at him. 

“Hey, I know you!” She said to him. “You’re that weird guy who lives in that tower close to here! My dad says to stay away from you because you’re dangerous and creepy.” 

The man cringed at her description, but nodded. He was about to properly introduce himself when Sam interrupted. 

“Yeah, you talk about him once in awhile, don’t you?” Now Sam’s face scrunched into some expression that was presumably contemplation, and scratched his head. “What was his name? Mister Raspberry?” 

The man cleared his throat, still trying to keep a hold of the struggling little creature. “M. Rasmodius, at your service.” He also tried bowing as a formality, to limited success thanks to his little friend. “It would seem my companion here has taken offense to your companion there.” 

They all looked at Krobus, who was struggling to sit up and see what was going on. 

…

Rasmodius was coming to the realization that the Dwarf had probably somehow detected the presence of a Shadow monster. 

“How come they hate each other?” Abigail asked as he looked at Krobus. 

Rasmodius groaned before giving an answer. “It details a war that has happened eons ago. Lingering bad blood, so to speak. But enough of that. There is a crisis in the process as we speak.” 

To the Dwarf, he frowned and held him out to look at him better. “If you swear not to harm the Shadow Creature, I will let you go.” 

The Dwarf didn’t give him an answer, or at least one in English. Regardless, Rasmodius rolled his eyes and set him down onto the ground. 

Almost immediately, the Dwarf ran towards Krobus, still out for blood. He was picked up again before he could reach him though, this time by Sam. In response, the Dwarf began beating Sam on the head with his little fists. 

“Whoa!” Sam chuckled, apparently unhurt by these ineffective little punches. “Angry little guy, aren’t you?” 

As part of a safety precaution, Abigail led Krobus away from them, towards Rasmodius. Her attention was focused on the little bouncy creature on his shoulder, though. 

“Hey, what’s this?” She pointed at it, like she wanted to tickle it. 

Rasmodius looked to where she was pointing, and moved a hand to present it better to her. “This is what is known as a ‘Junimo’, a creature from the spirit world. It has come to inform me of the condition of this land, and what is causing it.” 

“Oh.” Abigail got a closer look at it. “Can you eat it? It looks green-apple flavored.” 

“Please do not attempt to eat the Junimo.” Then Rasmodius glanced down at Krobus. “And you. Why are you up on the surface, and not underground for your own safety?” 

Krobus opened his mouth to try and say something, but couldn’t form any coherent words. In an effort to hear him better, Rasmodius knelt down to get closer to him.

“Do not strain yourself. Though time is short, it is better if you don’t render yourself speechless.” 

Even with this reassurance, Krobus still had a hard time saying much. All he could get out were sounds like “Nah...Yah...Bah…Ha...” 

Then he couldn’t even say those, resorting instead to hissing noises. Rasmodius groaned, standing back up. 

“It still would be wrong to leave him. Perhaps it would be best to bring him along to the caves. He may be of help in locating a friend of mine.” 

Abigail perked up now. “Caves? You mean the mines? I’ve always wanted to go into those! My dad just won’t let me.” 

She then looked over at Sam and the Dwarf. “Can we come with you? We’re looking for a friend of ours, too!” 

Before Rasmodius could answer her, a loud screech rang out through the forest. Then, the foliage around them, both intact and felled, shook vigorously. 

“Oh, man!” Sam interjected when he stood up with the Dwarf and ran over to the others. “Now what?”


	8. Through The Fire And Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight on two fronts. What will be the outcomes?

Everyone in the saloon was left stricken in terror at what they’d heard outside. Or rather, everyone who was alive and not Marlon.

Marlon himself took on a battle ready stance, whilst trying to keep himself balanced with his bad leg. He still wasn’t quite prepared when everything hit.

It’d started off when one of the townsfolk asked, “Does anyone else smell smoke?” This innocent observation was what set off the next chain of events.

The sound of crackling wood joined with the stronger smell of smoke, until a chunk of the roof came down in flames, causing everyone to once more have a riot.

“Oh, come on! Can this get any worse?!” Pierre shouted as he stayed close to his wife. Jodi, meanwhile, meanwhile, was frantically looking for her younger son.

“Vincent!” She called out for him. “Vincent, where are you?!” It didn’t help that she was suddenly pushed to the floor while looking. To this, Jodi had to resort to curling into the fetal position, to try and avoid being trampled on.

Through the chaos, she could see flames becoming increasingly higher, and a group of what appeared to be animated skeletons marching in. Marlon was trying his best to cut them down to size.

And then she could hear Vincent’s little voice crying to her, just over the din of shouts and hollers:

“Mommy!”

Jodi got to her knees, looking through the crowd’s legs and seeing Vincent on the other side of the saloon. After a couple of failed attempts, she got back to her feet and ran to him. The entire time, it was becoming hard to breathe thanks to the smoke filling the air.

Thankfully, she got to him in time. Quickly, Jodi gathered Vincent into her arms and held him tightly as she ran around and looked for a way out. She then looked back to see a large flaming piece of the roof had fallen in the spot where Vincent had been.

But she didn’t have time to breathe a sigh of relief; she could now hear him coughing from the smoke, and crying.

“Mommy!” Vincent said to her in a frantic tone. “Where’s Big Brother Sam?!”

“I don’t know, honey!” Jodi answered him, interrupted by her own coughing fit. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a few of the townsfolk had calmed down, and joined Marlon in his efforts to repel this enemy invasion.

Thanks to them, now the entrance to the Saloon was opened, at least for now until the next wave of monsters arrived.

Still, Jodi was intent of getting out of here. Making certain she had Vincent safe in her arms, she closed her eyes and ran towards the door.

Of course, some of the other people saw this as well, among them Pierre and Caroline. Catching a glimpse of Jodi and Vincent, they ran as quickly as possible to join them.

The next few moments were a blur. Jodi cracked open an eye to see the two running next to her. She closed it again, continuing to hoof it until she could breathe clean air.

But Jodi and the others didn’t stop there. They all just kept running as far as their legs could carry them.

It was at the end of town that their legs finally gave out, and they all collapsed. Now, all of them coughed and tried to catch her breaths.

Pierre looked back at the Saloon. By some extreme miracle, most of the townsfolk were getting out alive, among them Marlon and those who aided him. It looked as though the threat had been dealt with.

But not in time before the Saloon was now far beyond saving, a mere shell of what had once been a magnificent hub for gossip and merriment.

…

Everyone was now huddled into a pack as they were surrounded by numerous angry, vicious-looking monsters.

“I hope one of us here has an idea of how to get out of this mess,” Abigail told the others as she kept Krobus near her.

“I don’t even have clean underwear anymore!” Sam cried out while squeezing the Dwarf a little too tightly. The Dwarf just let out a squeal from Sam’s grip.

Rasmodius did in fact have a plan brewing in his mind. Under his breath, he began quickly chanting a set of words in succession. As he did so, he kept a hand next to his little Junimo friend, as though it were a valuable piece of treasure he needed to keep on hand.

Everybody else was shivering as they tried to keep away from the advancing creatures. Of course, Abigail was also trying to keep away from Sam and his soiled pants.

Right as the nearest monster lunged for them, Rasmodius shot out an outstretched hand. From this came a blue light that enveloped it.

“Huh…?” Sam and Abigail turned to see him then snap his fingers. In an instant, the creature shattered into countless pieces.

To this, everyone looking at him were quite awed.

“Wow…” Abigail said in admiration. “That was awesome!”

While they were all distracted, the Dwarf managed to wiggle out of Sam’s arms, and stood defiantly against the rest of the enemies.

“Hey little buddy! What are you doing?!” Sam’s question was answered when the Dwarf pulled something large and red out, as though from thin air.

…

The Dwarf didn’t waste any time lighting the fuse on his Mega Bomb. Once it was lit, he then hefted it up above his head, before flinging it towards the monsters before him.

“Out of the way!” Rasmodius hollered as he grabbed hold of Krobus and Abigail, and ran off in the opposite direction.

Sam lagged behind a little bit, in order to grab the Dwarf, before he too ran to join the others.

“You could’ve told me you were packing explosives, little guy!” Sam told him as he tried not to trip on anything, staring down at him. In response, the Dwarf just gave a little shrug.

They’d just gotten out of the area when a loud explosion was heard, alongside the intermingled death cries of numerous monsters.

All was silent. Everyone just stared at the explosion site for what seemed like forever. Abigail and Sam’s eyes were especially wide. Sam then turned the Dwarf around, and held him out to look at him better, a big grin on his face. The Dwarf just stared at him, his legs dangling under him.

“You’re awesome!” He said to him. “Can you be my brother's playmate?”

Rasmodius just rolled his eyes at this exchange, before turning to look at Abigail. "To answer your question from before, of course. The more help I have on hand, the easier things should be."

"All right!" Abigail clapped her hands together and smiled. "I just need to get back to town and get some things. Can you walk with us there? Better to be safe than sorry!"


	9. Hate Begets Hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things come to a head, and then some.

The already dim light in the bottom of the mine had been slowly dying the entire time he had been down here. 

Linus watched with a solemn resignation as it finally went out, leaving him in the darkness. He closed his eyes, which didn’t do much of a difference thanks to the darkness that swallowed him. 

Although he was still holding on to the hope that Rasmodius would arrive, Linus didn’t know how long he himself could take being down here. The heat from the nearby lava was getting to him. 

Sighing, he lay his head down, and began to accept his fate…

...Or he would have, had he not seen the changes in the environment. Just as quickly as Linus put down his head, it snapped back up at the sight of something covering the walls. 

“Huh…?” He squinted to get a better look at what appeared to be glowing runes. Unfortunately, he couldn’t translate very much of it, only scattered fragments of it. 

“When the earth...Humanity...Wrath of Yoba…Living yet dead...The chosen one...” The rest he couldn’t make out. But Linus could feel some strange intensity rising up within him, just by looking at them alone.

…

Abigail knew what would be awaiting her when she got back to town, as much as she dreaded it. 

That dread became stronger as her and Sam’s parents ran up to them. Abigail wanted to turn and run back so badly, but there was no doing that now. 

“You better have a good explanation for running off like that, Abigail!” Pierre scolded her, pointing his finger accusingly at her. Caroline also looked upset, but definitely not to the level her husband was. 

“Why?!” Abigail snapped back. “Because I’m a girl and going on an adventure with my friends isn’t ‘ladylike’?” 

Sam didn’t want to get involved in this, so he just backed away and reached his mother and little brother. He then smiled as he looked at them, and held up the Dwarf.

“Look, Mom! I made a new friend!” The Dwarf then reached his arms out towards Jodi. In response, she jumped back while making a noise of surprise and mild disgust. Vincent, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased. 

“Wow!” He said while eyeing the Dwarf. “He looks cool! Can I hold him?” 

Sam nodded, and handed him to Vincent. “Just keep a solid hold on him.” 

Interestingly, unlike earlier, the Dwarf was calm and quiet as he was handed over to Vincent. His beady orange eyes seemed to bore right into Vincent’s own. Vincent himself stared at him in awe. Then he gleefully looked up at his mother. 

“Mom, can we keep him?! I promise I’ll take good care of him!” 

Jodi tried not to cringe. “That depends on whether he wants to stay with us or not.” Then she turned away, slapping her hand against her face. “How am I going to explain this to your father next time I write to him…?”

…

Robin and her family, like most of the rest of the townsfolk, stood there awkwardly as Pierre and Abigail went back and forth with each other. Demetrius tried looking away at some nearby foliage, while Maru just looked down at the ground, biting her lip and scratching her arm. 

“I never did like hearing them fight whenever any of us went to the store,” Maru whispered. She was about to say something else when her mother shushed her. 

Something that Abigail told her father piqued her interest, specifically hearing Sebastian’s name. Now curious, Robin walked over and got her attention. 

“What did you say? And why isn’t Sebastian with you?” She asked, cutting the argument short. 

Abigail looked nervous, if relieved that she didn’t have to yell at her father. “Well, Sam and I went to go out and look for him. He said he’d call back earlier, or at least that’s what Sam told me-” 

Here Sam interrupted her, looking away from the Dwarf and his family. “Yeah, he said he’d call me back, but he didn’t.” He frowned, now even more worried. “Abigail and I tried looking for him, but all we found was his phone.” 

Then Abigail pointed to Krobus. “It was next to him, I think. Tried asking, but he can’t talk so well.” 

Robin shifted her focus over to Krobus. He was breathing heavily, with Rasmodius trying to keep him on his feet. 

“He is a creature of the underground,” Rasmodius explained. “The sun is rendering him weak, and powerless.” He looked up at Robin. “I recommend only asking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions to him.” 

Stepping closer, now seemingly ignoring everyone else, Robin got down on one knee to be at a shorter distance from Krobus’ face. 

“Do you know my son Sebastian? Dark hair, black hoodie?” Krobus paused a little bit, before nodding. “Has he been gone for a while?” Again, a nod.

Everyone else stood together, looking on. Abigail tried to say something about it, but the Dwarf just reached up and pressed a hand to her mouth, giving her the ‘shush’ finger gesture with his other hand. 

“Do you know where he is now?” To Robin’s dismay, Krobus shook his head at this question. He opened his mouth, now trembling. 

“Keh...Seh…Bah…Goh...” His voice was strained, and Robin put her hand up, stopping him from saying any more. 

“Don’t overwork yourself. I know you’re not responsible for what might have happened to Sebastian.” 

When Robin stood back up, it was like a switch had been flicked on within her. Her concern and fear over her son’s disappearance vanished now, replaced by what could only be described as pure rage. She began shaking, her hands balled up into fists. 

Before either Demetrius, Maru, or anyone else could stop her, Robin turned around to Pierre and delivered a hard right hook to his face, forcing him to the ground with a bloody nose, and about three broken teeth spat out of his mouth. As he fell, Caroline’s yelp of surprise was heard. 

“What did I do?!” He demanded with a slight lisp in his voice now, as he held his cheek while Caroline knelt down next to him. Robin loomed over him, about to hit him again, when Demetrius and Maru intervened. 

“Robin, please!” Demetrius said with a pleading voice. “He couldn’t have known.” 

“Yeah, Mom! Abby’s father didn’t know they were looking for Sebby!” Maru tried holding her mother back.

Their reasoning and talking her down seemed to calm Robin to an extent. Her anger now faded into defeat, and sadness.

Lowering her fist, Robin looked downward at her feet, trembling. Everyone was silent as they could hear her sniffling, and sobbing. Maru looked up at Demetrius. 

“We should probably get her home, Dad,” she whispered. Demetrius was in full agreement of this. 

All of the townsfolk watched with forlorn and pitying eyes, as the three walked back to their home in the mountains.


	10. Down Under

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both need aid, both need guidance. But what is the difference between them?

In order to try and dispel the unpleasant mood that had fallen upon the townsfolk and their severely damaged town, most of them headed back to their homes, or at least someplace they could stay. 

The ones left were Sam, Abigail, Rasmodius, and the non-human creatures. The Dwarf had jumped out of Vincent’s arms and ran back over to the group. 

“So what do we do now?” Abigail said as they all watched everyone else leave. “Do we just go back home with the others, or…?” 

Rasmodius glanced over all of them. “Regardless of your choice, I am still intend on seeking out my old friend. However, I would like to make a stop nearby, at the beach.” 

“What’s at the beach?” Sam asked, but he didn’t get an answer. Rasmodius then, rather briskly, went in the direction of said beach. 

Sam and Abigail looked at each other, and both shrugged at the same time. They then followed Rasmodius and the others. 

…

Somehow, the awful stench of dead fish and other putrid chemicals had become even worse. Sam vomited the instant he and Abigail were close enough to smell it. Abigail just held his hair back as he upchucked behind a large pile of driftwood. 

While he did so, Abigail looked around in case anyone was watching them. She did catch a glimpse of Willy holding a shovel, trying to make a deep enough hole for what, or rather who, he was burying. 

“Aw…” She made a noise while Sam was standing back up and wiping the vomit off his face. Then she turned to look at him. “Done puking your stomach out?” 

Sam nodded, and Abigail pulled him over to where the others had gone to, on the farthest dock. 

…

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mom like this…”

Back at Robin’s house, Maru and Demetrius had watched sadly as Robin cried herself into a fitful sleep. Now that she had done so, the two left her and walked down the hallway to the front room of the house. 

“Right now I’m hoping that Sebby’s all right,” Maru went on. “I know he and I weren’t that close, but…”

“I share the sentiment, sweetie,” Demetrius interrupted her as he sat on a nearby chair. “I’m starting to wonder if perhaps I should have been more of a parent to him.”

Maru didn’t keep talking. Instead, she went downstairs, and opened the door to Sebastian’s room. The strong smell of cannabis quickly reached her nostrils. 

“Wow! Mom was right. Sebby _was_ smoking things besides cigarettes down here.” Waving her hand in front of her face, Maru tried not to crinkle her nose as she made her way to one of Sebastian’s computers. 

As she thought, it was password protected. Maru couldn’t help but think that was both ironic and yet fitting for her half-brother. 

…

Once he got close enough to the water, Rasmodius pushed away some dead tilapia as best he could. When that didn’t work, he then looked to the Junimo, still dutifully sitting on his shoulder. 

“I hate to be an inconvenience to you,” he said to it, “but might you help me in getting their attention?” 

The Junimo nodded, or at least he thought it was nodding. It hopped down onto the very edge of the dock, and lifted its tiny arms up. Rasmodius leaned back and let the Junimo perform its magic. 

When Sam and Abigail caught up with them, they were curious as to what the wizard was trying to do. 

“Hey, what do you think is going on?” Sam whispered as he asked Abigail. As he did, the Dwarf ran over and climbed up onto his back. Krobus stood back at Abigail’s side also. 

Abigail just made an “I dunno” sound, shrugging her shoulders. “Underwater cult meeting?” 

Their question would quickly be answered when the Junimo stopped its dancing and singing, hopping into Rasmodius’ hands. In turn, Rasmodius stepped back, keeping his eye on that particular part of the water. 

Almost immediately, a strange aquatic creature hopped out, and landed in front of them with a wet thud.


	11. The Cove of Crystals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations and secrets, and other things will be introduced. How, and what could happen?

Abigail and Sam were surprised at the new creature before them, admiring its green, scaly, and bipedal appearance. Being that it just hopped out of the water, it was wet and draped with a few pieces of seaweed. It held an empty can of Joja Cola in its left hand, and looked angry. 

“Cool,” Abigail said as she leaned forward to get a better look. She tried to step closer, but Rasmodius stuck his hand out to stop her. 

“Do not be foolish, girl,” he said to her. “That is a member of the merfolk. There’s no telling what it might do to humans.” As if to prove his point, the Merperson threw the empty cola can at them, hitting Sam in the forehead. 

Rasmodius just ignored Sam’s abrupt, if somewhat comical irritation, and knelt down to confront the Merperson better. Then he began speaking in a language that none of the others had heard before. While he spoke, he gestured to the Junimo that was now in his lap. 

…

The runes were beginning to fade from Linus’ view now. Having strained his eyesight to the near limit, he sighed and closed his eyes, laying back down onto the ground. 

But just as he did, he was forced to snap back up and watch as like before, an earthquake was rumbling through. And this time, he was in the middle of it, instead of somewhere safe. 

Nonetheless, Linus closed his eyes and covered his head with his arms, hearing rocks falling around him. In front of him, he could also hear an awful ripping sound. It was so loud, he had to then cover his ears instead to try and muffle it, leaving him vulnerable to any falling rocks.

It seemed like an eternity before the rumbling stopped, but when Linus opened his eyes again, he was struck dumbfounded now; not only was the front wall, which had the runes on it, completely shattered, so was the rest of the cave around him. It were as though he’d ended up in a completely different world. 

Looking over behind his shoulder, Linus realized that he was no longer trapped. Cautiously, he pulled his leg back up, and unsteadily got to his feet. As expected, his leg was showing clear signs of being broken, going by the near-debilitating pain he felt from standing on it. He fought through it as best he could. 

Linus then stumbled about the newly altered area, which was much bigger than before. Instead of crumbling rocks and broken pillars, there were gemstones and crystals all around him, of wildly varying sizes and color. At one end stood a large table, made of a valuable mineral that Linus couldn’t remember the name of. At the head of it was a statue of Pelican Town’s main deity Yoba. 

“How…?” He could hear his voice echo. “How long has this been hidden down here?” He then hobbled over to the table and statue, his hand wavering over both of them. 

He then heard something from the floor above him; The few words he could pick out indicated to him that it was in the old language. 

Linus’ blood then went cold, fearing that he would be caught and perhaps killed. As fast as he could, he limped over to a large and very dark crystal, hiding himself behind it. 

Then, peeking out just a little, Linus watched the chanters come down into the crystal cave. 

…

As the conversation went on, Sam and Abigail just kept glancing at each other, wishing they knew what the two were talking about. Krobus took a step forward to try and listen better, but the Dwarf stopped him by growling at him like a dog. 

But even if the words couldn’t be understood, Rasmodius’ facial expressions while speaking gave some clues towards the gravity of the situation. He nodded a few more times, before standing back up. 

“Hey Mister Razzledazzle,” Sam piped up, “What’d the ugly fish thing say to you?”

In response to being called an ‘ugly fish thing’, the Merperson approached and picked up the Joja Cola can from earlier, making squelching noises as it did so. It then picked it back up, only to throw it at Sam again. This time, the Dwarf reached out and caught it mid-air. 

Rasmodius scowled at Sam, then looked to Abigail with a raised eyebrow. He then told the Merperson what was probably ‘thank you’ and watched it dive back into the ocean.


	12. Birth To Earth

“The Merfolk are quite displeased with what the people of this town have been doing,” Rasmodius told everyone as soon as the Merperson was gone.

Sam shrugged. “Which is what?” Abigail just took the empty can away from the Dwarf, who had begun using it to hit Krobus on the head with.

Rasmodius’ already grim expression darkened. “According to the Merfolk, the townsfolk have been throwing litter into the ocean, polluting the waters.

“It isn’t just the ocean, however.” He swept his hand towards the horizon, showcasing the rest of town. “The rest of nature here is suffering from all this.”

He cleared his throat. “Because of this, certain...legends have begun to be made reality.”

“Legends?”

“You are all familiar with the worshipped deity of this town, correct?”

Abigail cocked her head. “Yoba? Yeah, I’m familiar with him, sort of. My parents got an altar at our place that the previous owners left. Why, what about him?”

…

Linus struggled to keep too much weight off his broken leg, as he watched a group of Shadow Monsters enter the cavern.

Four Brutes were at each corner of a kind of stretcher they were carrying, their faces cast downward as they all chanted. At the front, back, and sides were two Shadow Shamans each, chanting louder as they led the others to the table. On their carrier was a young man that Linus vaguely knew.

Linus wanted so badly to try and escape, but his leg made walking, let alone running difficult if not near-impossible. When he couldn’t hold himself up anymore, he got down on all fours and kept watching.

And he just kept watching in an awed terror as the Shadow monsters took the young man’s arms, and bent them up towards the idol of Yoba, while said idol began to glow.

…

Rasmodius bowed his head as he tried to explain it as best he could.

“According to the legends, the earth came to be when Yoba plucked a fruit from a vine he had planted into soil made from light he’d smoothed himself. When he’d peeled off the skin, the world was there, as though it were another seed.”

“Okay...” Sam interjected at this point, readjusting the Dwarf on his shoulders.

“The rest of the legend, is nowhere near as mentioned. Yoba had seen the world, and decided there needed to be caregivers for the world. And thus, he swirled the light again, and again, until a group of humans were made, in resemblance of the vessel.”

Abigail raised her hand, like she were in school again. “That’s nice, but what does this have to do with nature going crazy?”

“Patience, girl,” Rasmodius growled at her. “I am getting to that.”

Then he continued. “Yoba told the newly created humans to ‘go, and make the earth plentiful. Bring forth life to the earth, as I have brought life to you’.”

Here, his expression became even more grim. “He then told them, ‘But know this! If you cause the earth to suffer, if you do not care for it, the task for which you were created, I will return and take back what you have abused. I will return in the guise of one of your own, and cause suffering.’

“‘The trembling of the earth shall be my pain. The all-consuming fire shall be my wrath. The howling of the wind shall be my screams. The storms and the rain will be my tears. What you have done to my creation, I shall return to you hundredfold.’”

He cleared his throat again. “That is but one of the translations of one of Yoba’s legends. Of course, I say it to you now, as that is the legend that is now come to fruition.”

Rasmodius then looked off to the side, then looked back at them. “The short version is that the earth is now polluted, and Yoba is going to likely kill everyone.”

Everybody else, even the Junimo, stared at him in fright. Then Abigail snapped herself out of it.

“And we’re gonna go try and stop him, right?”

Although she may have asked it in disbelief, Abigail was dumbstruck when Rasmodius nodded, and walked through them back to the beach.

“If need be,” he told them. Then he looked a few feet away to see Willy finishing his hole in the sand. “But first…” He gestured for everyone to follow him, and led them over to Willy.

…

“It’s a damned shame ye never got to finish that book of yers, Elliott,” Willy said to the corpse he was trying to widen a burial spot for. “I’d bet ye could have made millions from it.”

Elliott looked peaceful in his hastily made casket, defying the presumed circumstances surrounding his death. In his arms was the unfinished manuscript itself, which Willy had put there after bounding it up as best he could to protect it from the elements.

As soon as Willy got the hole as wide as he wanted, he hopped out of the hole and made to close the casket. He was stopped, however, by the group that had shown up earlier. He was about to ask why they were there before the tallest one took off his hat and pressed it to his chest.

“It seems only fair to pay respects for a life gone too soon.” His answer got Willy to nod, and closed the casket lid over Elliott’s body.

Everyone was silent as Willy struggled to get the casket into the hole. He was then aided when Sam ran over and picked up the other end, easing his burden.

He also helped when Willy began to throw sand back onto the casket. When that was finished, they both stepped back from the grave, Willy removing his own hat.

For a long while, nothing was said. Not even Willy could muster up the right words for his now deceased neighbor. Nothing he could think of could do proper justice for him.


	13. Dynamic Entry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no self-control when I write and update help me please

The mood was somber as the group finally started making their way to the mines. Even the Dwarf looked saddened as he stayed perched on Sam’s shoulder. 

It was so uncomfortable to keep quiet. About halfway there, Abigail walked up quickly to Rasmodius up front. 

“You said you were looking for your friend, right?” Rasmodius nodded. “What’s he like?” 

“I think it would be best if you were to see him for yourself,” he answered her. “I’m certain he is someone you are at least aware of.” 

After that he kept quiet, despite her efforts to get him to open up more. 

…

Sam was keeping a close eye on Krobus, as the latter was being carried on Abigail’s back. His condition didn’t seem to have worsened, but it didn’t improve either. Then he directed his attention to the Dwarf. 

“Is it true you guys hate other?” Sam asked him while pointing between the two. The Dwarf took one look at Krobus, and then turned away, crossing his arms and huffing out a little “Humph!” 

This was so awkward, Sam couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He then reached over and picked the Dwarf up and held him close. 

“Hey buddy,” he said to him, “if you do stay with us, think maybe you could cut back on all the exploding?” My dad, he’s a soldier, and I don’t want him to get triggered by anything when he comes back, you know? Think you can do that?” 

The Dwarf just stared at him, cocking his head like some kind of dog. Then he just shrugged. Sam just sighed, but tried to keep a grin up for the sake of it. 

“I guess you don’t need to stop now, just when he gets back.” He then held the Dwarf up to his shoulder again, and let him climb back on. 

Once more, the way to the mines was quiet, save for the Junimo on Rasmodius’ shoulder chirping and squeaking. 

As they finally got there, Sam and Abigail looked over at Sebastian’s house, getting saddened at how his family must be feeling right this moment. 

“There are no monsters that I can detect in this place,” Rasmodius told everyone when they got inside. “It shouldn’t take long to get to the bottom.

“I had hoped to keep this in supply until we were able to escape this place, but time is short.” He then held out one of his hands, focusing a blue light into the palm. “Everyone close your eyes. This may cause some motion sickness.” 

The others complied, keeping their eyes closed as tightly as they could. After a few brief moments, they could all feel themselves moving downwards at a very rapid speed.

…

Linus remained on his hands and knees, desperately seeking some way out that wouldn’t get him noticed. 

As he did, he also tried to block out the chanting, which seemed to get even louder. The young man they were surrounding seemed to be getting distressed. 

However, Linus’ hopes would soon be raised, at least somewhat, by the sound of something hitting the ground on the floor above. The magnitude of the impact knocked the Shadow Monsters down and interrupted their chanting. The idol of Yoba ceased glowing, and the young man’s face became peaceful. 

Risking it, he crawled out a bit more and craned his neck upward, recognizing at least one of the silhouettes. 

“Ah, Rasmodius,” he whispered with a grin on his face, “I just knew you’d come.”


	14. Reunion

For what felt like the dozenth time since getting home that day, Pierre could hear the phone ringing. He was irritated by the ringing, as was his wife. 

“Pierre, please answer the phone!” She begged of him from farther in the building. Pierre just ignored her, continuing to sweep up the mess that had been made in his store. While he did, he rubbed the part of his face that Robin had brutally punched, still feeling quite sore in that area. 

After one ring too many, Caroline sighed in frustration, and answered it herself. “Hello?” He knew who was going to be on the other line, before he even heard the name spoken. 

“Oh hello, Morris! Fine, and…?” Caroline’s calm voice was a stark contrast to the boiling anger Pierre was feeling due to Morris calling. He couldn’t even keep his fists from shaking as he tightly gripped the broom handle. 

“No Morris, our store is still perfectly functional. We’ve just had a setback with our supplies due to the disasters going on and- what’s that? Well, I don’t see why this is relevant!” 

The sudden rise in volume in Caroline’s voice actually caught Pierre off guard, enough for him to drop the broom and look in the direction of their living quarters. He could only listen in as she began tearing into him, calling him a greedy pig and other insults.

“And I would appreciate it if you would stop calling us! I don’t care how intact or well-sheltered JojaMart is, I will not be seen dead in that place! Now goodbye!” 

The call ended properly once Caroline slammed the receiver down, and could be heard stomping away. 

Pierre just stood there for a little while, before picking the broom back up and sweeping everything into a pile. 

…

Linus’ relief at seeing that Rasmodius had finally arrived was briefly cut short by the Shadow Monsters all getting to their feet and shrieking their displeasure at their interrupted ritual. 

This was answered by the explosion of a cherry bomb falling in and scattering them all around the place. Then came Rasmodius and his presumed exploration crew, jumping down into the cavern.

“Linus!” Rasmodius and the others ran over to him immediately, kneeling down to get better eye contact. “Thank goodness you’re still alive!” 

“You know that it would take more than an elevator accident to do me in, my old friend,” Linus told him as he tried to stand up with him. “Although it may render walking difficult for a while.

“Unless you were able to learn a healing spell before you came here. It would certainly be of use for me right now.” 

Rasmodius nodded, pulling out what seemed to be a small vial of liquid from someplace on his person. “I would never do without such supplies, as I am sure you know.” 

Taking the vial, Linus grinned and agreed, before shotgunning the whole thing and waiting for it to perform its magic. Once he was done, he then looked over at the Dwarf. 

“And you, my little friend. I can’t thank you enough for bringing Rasmodius to me. If there is anything I can do for you, anything at all, just let me know.”

Everyone else smiled, until they could hear shuffling behind them. Then all their smiling became frightened looks. 

…

Much to the Dwarf’s dismay, it looked as if his cherry bomb didn’t quite destroy all the Shadow Monsters. A good few of them got back to their feet, snarling in an animalistic manner. 

“Uh...Any ideas?” Sam asked as he knelt down in case he had to pick the Dwarf up and run. “Abby, didn’t you say you owned a sword?” 

“Yeah, but I don’t have it anymore! My dad took it away last week when he found it in my sock drawer!” Left defenseless, the two humans cowered next to each other, hiding behind Rasmodius’ back. 

The entire time, Krobus was standing there, improving under the shift to the underground from the surface. He then ran in front of everyone, as Rasmodius began to conjure up some kind of spell. 

Right as the hostile Shadow Monsters lunged at them, a blue shield was seen enveloping them. Then they were knocked back a few feet. Their momentary daze provided Krobus with the ideal chance to communicate with them. 

He stepped a little closer, and proceeded to speak their language, which was replied to in kind by one of the hostile monsters. Rasmodius then got an intent look on his face, trying to translate everything. 

“What are they saying?” Sam whispered to Rasmodius as he and the Dwarf poked at the force field in front of them. 

Rasmodius kept listening a little more, then proceeded to tell everyone the apparently shortened version. “Krobus here is asking of his brethren ‘why must you do this ritual now? Is there no chance to delay it and try and reverse the damage?’”

“And what about his friend? What’s he saying?” Abigail asked. 

“That Shadow monster is saying to him ‘you are a blind fool if you believe the damage to this land can be reversed. Yoba has demanded a human, and a human is what we have given him.’

“‘It is too late to delay what has been set into motion. Yoba’s wrath will soon be felt here, then in the valley, until the entire world knows his anger towards the true monsters.’” 

“Monsters?” Sam just asked, but then the Dwarf leaned up onto his tiptoes and slapped a hand over his mouth. 

Linus then hobbled over and put a hand on his shoulder, keeping his voice low. “Rasmodius has told you about the legend of Yoba, hasn’t he?” 

Sam nodded. “Yeah, what about it?” 

Linus then gestured to Rasmodius again, pointing out the rest of the translated dialogue. 

“‘Nothing can be done! It is already happening. Now, return to the filthy sewer you call your home, and accept that this cannot be stopped. We will leave your companions be this time, but if any of them are ever seen here again after all is finished, we will rip them apart in the name of Yoba.’”

Then, the group of Shadow Monsters turned to leave the cavern, going back up to the rest of the mines. 

The force field was then let down, as the group watched the monsters leave. Then Abigail spoke up. 

“What did they mean by giving Yoba a human? Why would he need a human?” But Sam answered her question for her, when he looked away and saw who was on the ground nearby.


	15. Return

“Sebastian!” Sam and Abigail cried out simultaneously as they both ran over to his unconscious body, Sam scooping him up into his arms. Rasmodius strode over, the others following suit. 

“Seb! Hey, come on, say something!” Sam tried to jostle Sebastian awake. When that didn’t work, the Dwarf leaned in and slapped him across the face a few times, holding him by the collar of his hoodie. 

Carefully, Rasmodius reached in, shooing away the Dwarf’s efforts, and placed two of his fingers onto Sebastian’s neck, feeling for a pulse. 

“Is he…?” Abigail just trailed off, not wanting to assume the worst. 

Rasmodius pulled his hand back. “No, he is simply in a very deep sleep. Fear not; his life is not in any danger.” He then turned to look at Krobus. “Will you be in your usual spot in case we need your help later on?” 

Krobus nodded, then looked towards the rest and bowed. He then turned the other direction and padded back towards the ladder going up. The others watched him go. 

“So…” Sam focused back onto Sebastian, who hadn’t moved at all the whole time. “I think we should bring Seb back to his parents. Anyone else for that?” 

Everybody answered in the affirmative; even the Junimo on Rasmodius’ shoulder seemed to. 

…

It was starting to become dusk outside. Maru was standing outside, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Her father had gone to bed, and her mother had now gotten to the counter she conducted business behind. 

Robin had her face buried in her arms, slumped over the counter, but Maru knew she’d been crying until just a few minutes ago. Nothing she nor Demetrius said or did would console her. 

The light outside was glaring, and it hurt her eyes a little too much. Unfortunately, it was the only proper light nearby, so she kept standing under it. 

“Too bad I can’t get one of my inventions to tell me where Sebastian is…” She muttered to herself. 

Then, as if to make her eat her words, Maru caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. She quickly turned to get a proper look, and couldn’t believe what she was seeing. 

“Sebby!” Maru then opened the front door, her eyes wide. “Mom! Mom! These guys found Sebastian!” 

Right away, Robin snapped her head up, with her still puffy red eyes now becoming as large as her daughter’s. Once she processed what Maru had just told her, she pulled herself up and leaned onto her arms. 

“What…?” She rubbed her face, as she ran out from behind the counter. “Are you sure, honey?” 

Maru nodded. She then ran back outside, her mother following suit. 

…

It was surprising that Sam didn’t get bowled over by Sebastian’s mother and half-sister running out to greet him; as he was the one still holding Sebastian, he was the one they went to. 

Thankfully, Rasmodius held a hand up to keep them from getting a bit overzealous. Then he stepped in front of them to explain things. 

“Your son is not at any risk of death. I would, however, have the doctor inspect him anyway. Whatever it is that has him in this state, it would be best to have suggestions from all sides.”

Robin nodded and rubbed her eyes again, just happy that she had her son back. Then she ran back inside to call Doctor Harvey.


	16. Doctor's Orders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian has been found...But what is causing his deep sleep?

It didn’t take long for Robin and Maru to bring Sebastian to the hospital, despite it getting late and Doctor Harvey’s usual hours were long over. Somehow, Maru convinced him to let everyone in and give Sebastian a checkup. (Linus opted to stay outside though, claiming he didn’t feel welcome in the place)

Now, the group looked on, as the doctor used a stethoscope to hear for any abnormal sounds coming from Sebastian’s body. 

“He’ll be okay, right?” Sam said out of the blue as he held the Dwarf closer in his arms, careful not to crush him this time. “This Ras guy was telling the truth, right?” Behind him, Rasmodius just slapped a palm to his forehead and groaned, sliding said hand down his face. 

Harvey just checked a few more places on Sebastian’s torso and chest, before pulling away. “I may have to have him stay the night, and run some x-rays and tests to know for sure.” 

He then turned to Sam and Abigail with disdain and disgust. “What have you two done to put him into his state?!”

“What are you looking at us for?!” Abigail snapped back at him, causing the others to cover their ears. “He was like that when we found him!” 

All Harvey could say to this was an incredulous “Pardon me?!”

“Well…” Abigail calmed down and looked at Sebastian, still laying on the examination table. “According to the wizard’s friend Linus -that’s the old guy outside-, a bunch of monsters showed up with him, and he was already like this. He’s thinking they had something to do with it, but he won’t say what…” 

…

As the two of them were talking, Rasmodius slipped out of the clinic to find Linus just outside, muttering to himself. 

“Is something the matter?” His inquiry snapped Linus out of his trance, causing him to look up at him. 

“Ah...Well, while I was down there in the mines, I ended up seeing a bunch of runes appear on a wall. If I had some writing implements, I could write down what I remember…” 

Like magic, which was what was most likely to have indeed been used, Rasmodius pulled a pencil and pad of paper out from behind him, and handed them to Linus. 

As best he could, Linus wrote down the runes he’d seen, even the ones he couldn’t translate. Once he was done, he handed the paper back to Rasmodius. Now Rasmodius began mumbling as he translated them, his face losing all color as he did so. 

“‘ _When the earth has become poisoned by Humanity, it shall call upon the wrath of Yoba. He shall come forth, in the guise of a human that is living yet dead. In the form of the chosen one, his divine vengeance shall be wreaked upon the unworthy. The end will come only when his hands are stained with the blood of the wrongdoers._ ’”

Rasmodius dropped the paper, his body slackening into a catatonic state. His eyes were now unblinking, his mouth open with shock and fear. 

“What are you speaking of, my friend?” Linus reached out, but what Rasmodius said next caused him to draw back.

“The forest spirit was right,” he said to Linus, but mostly to himself. “We are all doomed.” He then stood back up, and went off in the direction towards the forest. 

Linus tried asking where he was going, but received no answer. With no other choice, he followed him, glancing back at the clinic partway.


	17. In A Snap

Late that night, Doctor Harvey was still up and at it, looking over any possible concerns regarding Sebastian. 

“This is unbelievable,” he whispered to himself as he sat behind the counter in the clinic’s lobby, looking over all the tests he’d taken. “I’ve done x-rays, bloodwork...Nothing! There’s nothing to suggest why he won’t wake up…” 

Harvey took his glasses off and slumped onto the counter in exasperation, running his fingers through his hair. 

“Of all the difficult cases I’ve seen in my career...” he grumbled. Then he stood up and put his glasses back on, wandering up to his living quarters above the clinic. He was so out of it that he didn’t even bother to close the double doors behind him. 

Once he got upstairs, Harvey began stumbling around in the dark, looking for the light switch. He flicked it upward when he found it, but to his dismay, the light wouldn’t turn on. 

“Wonderful; Another problem with this place,” he muttered sarcastically. He then managed to reach his desk, grabbing a small flashlight he’d put there for certain emergencies. To his relief, it turned on. 

His relief was awash with a cold sweat, however, when he heard the double doors to the stairs squeaking as they moved. Quickly, but trying not to break anything, Harvey went back to the top of the stairs and pointed the flashlight at the doors. 

Nothing there. Even so, Harvey was trembling in fear. He remained that way when he went downstairs to close the doors, and this time lock them. 

But as he was pulling a key out of his pocket, Harvey could then hear footsteps somewhere very nearby. 

“Hello? Is anybody there?” He called out into the darkness, stepping away from the door to go investigate. “Unless it’s an absolute emergency, I ask that you come back during regular hours.” 

The darkness was briefly cut through by Harvey’s small flashlight, revealing a small portion of the waiting room. 

Again, footsteps. This time they were behind him. When Harvey spun around to see who it was, however, there was no one there. 

But there had to have been someone there, if he were hearing somebody walking around. Surely he couldn’t be hearing things. 

This time, Harvey caught the sound of heavy breathing, and it was getting closer. Harvey was shaking even more now, barely able to keep a grip on his flashlight. Trying to keep his sight on what the flashlight was showing, he walked backwards towards the patient area. Even now, he wished to make certain Sebastian’s life wasn't in danger from this intruder. 

“Excuse me…? If you have a medical emergency, either tell me now, or return during the daytime-”

He was cut short when he bumped into something, and a hand clamped over his mouth. As Harvey began struggling with his mystery attacker, he dropped his flashlight onto the floor. 

…

Early the next morning, Jodi was humming as he prepared to make breakfast for her family. Despite the recent tremors causing significant damage to the whole town, she could at least still use the appliances somehow. 

“Let’s see...Where’d I put the big mixing bowl…?” She knelt down onto the floor and opened the door under the counter. Finding nothing in that one, she scooted on her knees over to the other end. 

Once Jodi opened the other door, she yelped and recoiled in shock; the Dwarf was curled up inside, sleeping in the very mixing bowl she was looking for. Her frightful sounds got Sam to come out and see what was the problem. 

“Hey, Mom, what is it-” But he stopped and snorted when he saw where the Dwarf was. “Oh, so _that’s_ where he went!” 

He walked over next to Jodi, leaning in and gently tapping the Dwarf’s shoulder to wake him. He then pulled him out and stuck him under his arm. 

“I don’t think you should be sleeping under the cupboard, little buddy,” Sam told the Dwarf as they went back to Sam’s room. “If you want, I can get one of my dad’s old cots for you to sleep on. Just gotta go find it…”

Jodi watched them go, then shook her head while rolling her eyes. She then pulled her mixing bowl out and started rinsing it out in the sink. 

…

Maru readjusted her nurse’s hat as she made her way to the clinic. Although it was earlier in the day than usual for her to leave to volunteer at the clinic, she still wanted to check up on Sebastian. 

This time, she was early enough that she didn’t have to deal with anything or anybody delaying her. She did feel bad that she wouldn’t have the chance to say hi to her friend Penny, though. 

Once Maru got to the clinic, she reached for the door handle and turned it. But instead of opening right away, it held stuck. 

“Huh?” Normally, even if it weren’t during the usual hours, Harvey often had the door unlocked by six in the morning, in case of special emergencies. When she checked her watch, Maru saw that it was a quarter after seven, well after that time. 

Maru tried several more times to get the door open, which included slamming her shoulder against it. Finally, when she exerted enough strength, something gave from within. Maru was so caught off guard by this that she toppled straight to the floor when she fell inside. 

“Ow! What on earth…” As she pulled herself up and fixed her outfit, Maru caught sight of a hand sticking out from a hallway leading to the patient area. 

“Doctor? Doctor Harvey, is that you?” In a wary manner, Maru stepped closer to see who it was. The closer she got, the more terror that she felt. Hesitantly, she reached the end and peeked behind the corner. The very sight burned itself into her memory. 

Doctor Harvey was laying on the floor, dead. His neck was bent at a most unnatural angle, a clear sign it’d been snapped. His glassy, unblinking eyes stared ahead at his glasses, which had somehow come off his face and had one of the lenses cracked. 

It took Maru a little bit to realize that the sight before her was very much real, and not some awful nightmare she was having. But by then, she had run out of the hospital screaming bloody murder.


	18. Secrets And Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tragedy has occurred. Who is responsible, and why?

Abigail had been playing her video games when she heard Maru screaming. It had been so loud and sudden, she practically flung her controller across the room, nearly hitting her guinea pig’s cage. 

When she got up and flung open her bedroom door, Abigail was running out of the store with her mother calling for her to wait. 

Once Abigail got outside, she saw Sam running out of his own house, carrying the Dwarf on his shoulders. A few of the other remaining townsfolk came out to see what was going on, but didn’t get a closer look. 

“Maru!” The two of them skid down onto their knees and tried pulling her up to a sitting position. “Maru, what happened?” 

All Maru could do was point at the open door of the clinic, her finger trembling. 

“The Doctor, he…” She took a shaky breath. “He’s dead!” 

Sam and Abigail looked at each other. Then Sam looked over his shoulder at the Dwarf. He let him jump off onto the ground, and the two sprinted inside. It didn’t take long for the both of them to let out terrified shrieks. 

“Oh, she’s right!” Sam pointed to the doctor’s corpse, which was obscured from sight, before grabbing his hair in shock. The Dwarf just grabbed himself by the ears of his helm and began doing some sort of frenzied dance out of panic. 

Abigail stared wide-eyed, before another worrying thought came to her. She looked right at Maru as she pulled her back up onto her feet. 

“Wait, what about Sebastian? Is he okay?” 

Now Maru somehow became even more frightened. “I didn’t check. I was too shocked by Doctor Harvey’s body.” 

Biting her lip, Abigail ran into the clinic herself, pulling Maru along behind her. The two then brought Sam and the Dwarf along, and looked in the patient’s quarters. 

The good news was that Sebastian wasn’t lying dead in his bed. The bad news was that he wasn’t even there. His bed was a complete mess, with desperate claw marks riddling the headboard and the wall leading to the shattered window above it. 

“Oh, jeez…” Abigail was shaking even more. “You think he was kidnapped by a monster or something?” 

The Dwarf then turned his head to notice something next to a nearby table. Plodding over, he reached down and grabbed the shredded remains of something. Then he marched back over and tugged at Sam’s shirt. 

“Huh?” Sam leaned down to see what was up. “Hey, what’d you find, little buddy?” He grabbed hold of the shreds and tried to decipher what they were supposed to be. 

Maru, on the other hand, seemed to know right away. “That was something we put up for those who believe in Yoba. Whoever destroyed it must have been extremely angry with everything that’s going on-”

She was cut short when a sudden, powerful gust of wind began to stir outside. Its strength managed to tear off the clinic’s front door, and scatter a good portion of the waiting room. 

Everyone huddled together to try and keep from either getting blown away, or getting hit by any flying chairs. Then, as quickly as it began, the wind stopped. In the short time it was active, it destroyed everything in the waiting room. 

“Whoa, that was freaky,” Abigail told the others when she looked up to survey the damage. 

“And it happened so quick,” Maru added on. She then looked back down at the doctor’s body, trying not to cry. “I think we should do something about him. I can’t stand to see him like this.” 

Another gust came, wrecking the place even more causing the four to stand back together. Outside, over the howling, they could hear the other townsfolk clamoring to get back into their homes. 

…

In the Wizard’s tower, Rasmodius flinched when the whistling wind pierced through his hearing, leading him to cover his ears. As he did, Linus walked over to see if anything needed to be properly locked. 

“I must say, Rasmodius,” he spoke as he latched the door as best he could, “you certainly know how to prepare in times of disaster.” 

“But of course,” Rasmodius said as he stood on a footstool, peering at his reflection in a bubbling cauldron. “One must always think in advance for any future events.” 

Linus then made his way to Rasmodius’ side. “How unfortunate that I’ll surely not have my tent to stay in when or if this is over.” 

“A tent is no challenge for me to recreate. Perhaps I could conjure up one that is immune to all natural disasters, provided we survive all this.” 

Linus nodded, then looked up to cringe at him. “Those children from yesterday...why have you lied to them, my friend?” 

Rasmodius’ already downcast expression became even darker. He dipped one of his arms into the cauldron liquid, swirling it about a little. His reflection was then disturbed, before it started to take form of something else. 

“I did so for their benefit,” he answered when he pulled his arm back out and shook it dry. In a near instant, the liquid went still. He stared at the result, then hung his head in shame. “As it stands, they are not ready to face the truth just yet.” 

Now Rasmodius stepped down from his footstool, and draped an arm around Linus’ shoulders. “Come. We must turn our minds to more drastic measures, should he decide to pay us a visit later tonight.” As the two left, the cauldron’s image remained where it was, save for a few slight ripples from any bubbles popping. 

It depicted Sebastian seen from behind, looking down intently at one of his hands. He turned it over and back, inspecting its new sharp nails. He then looked over his shoulder, like he knew he was being watched. 

Once his face was fully visible, his eyes, now completely yellow, began to glow as if in warning.


	19. Time for A Dirt Nap

Despite the high winds from earlier taking out at least several more trees, to add to the wreckage caused by the earthquakes, they managed to find a proper burial site. With shovels they’d borrowed from Abigail’s parents, the three of them began digging. 

On the side, the Dwarf watched as he sat next to the doctor’s wrapped body, occasionally poking it to see if anything would happen; whether or not Doctor Harvey was truly dead, and not unconscious. 

“I still can’t believe someone could have the will to do this to the poor doctor,” Maru said to the other two while she was taking a break. 

“Yeah, it is pretty messed up,” Abigail said while pausing, holding her shovel full of dirt. “Even I would never think about doing that.” 

Sam just kept working intently, grunting and heaving with each pile of dirt he threw up. He only quit when he heard a loud yelp. Looking up, he saw the Dwarf shaking dirt off of himself. 

“Oh,” Sam said while rubbing the back of his head, chuckling nervously. “Sorry about that, little guy. I wasn’t seeing where I was aiming.”

The Dwarf just spouted his unintelligible words of indignance, before sitting back down and pulling some kind of box out of seemingly nowhere. 

“Hmm?” Maru now stopped her own digging to see what he had, and stepped closer for a better look. Seemingly ignoring her, the Dwarf just reached in and pulled out what looked like a scraggly carrot. “What do you got there?” 

Just as the Dwarf offered it to her, and Maru reached forward to take it, another powerful gust of wind began to blow suddenly; one so strong that it pushed the Dwarf and his box of mystery into the hole with the others. He then scrambled to pick everything up as the other three ducked down to avoid the wind. 

“Not again!” Abigail cried out, hearing the cracking and snapping several more trees being toppled. Then came the doctor’s covered body, landing in front of them with a thump, terrifying all of them. 

The wind then stopped. Sam looked upwards to see the incurred damage, then back down at the body. 

“Well, that takes care of that, then,” he said, trying to lighten the rather dark mood. 

…

Now that the coast looked to be clear, Caroline and Pierre came out of their hiding spot to see if their merchandise was all over the place again. 

“Would it be unusual for me to say that I’m starting not to care if my store gets tore apart by all this weird weather?” 

“For you, it would be,” Caroline answered him as she stepped out from behind the counter to survey the once more trashed area. “I just hope Abby and her friends are all right…” 

Pierre just sighed as he himself came back out, and went back to the living section of the building. He sighed again, more agitated this time, when he saw the answering machine on his telephone display a blinking number one. Rolling his eyes, he played the message. 

“Hello again, Pierre! Quite the turn of events this has unfolded out to be, hm?” Hearing Morris’ smug and falsely jovial voice made Pierre growl and narrow his eyes. “I just wanted to let you know that Jojamart is still willing to take you on as one of the family. I’m sure what with all the quaking and burning and whatnot, you must be very worried! Perhaps you need a new way to support that family of yours, hm?” 

When Caroline heard Morris’ voice, she came back in and listened with him. As she listened to the recording of Morris taunting her husband, she crossed her arms and shook her head, rolling her own eyes as she did. 

“Jojamart has some of the weirdest things,” she murmured to Pierre. “I mean, taco sauce for babies? Who even thinks that up?” 

Pierre nodded, his eyebrows raised, before catching on to a shift in tone in the recording. 

“And furthermore- Hm?” Morris’ voice now sounded farther away, like he stepped away from the phone. “Who goes there? It is not currently business hours here in Jojamart!” 

Looking at each other, Caroline and Pierre listened more intently. Morris went on with speaking to his unknown guest. 

“Much as it pains me to say it, you will have to return when Jojamart is open and ready to- What are you doing? Stop! Don’t you dare! Get back, before I phone the authorities! No! _Noooo_!” 

Then Morris was screaming in agony, followed by choking noises. The two listened awkwardly as Morris presumably had the life strangled out of him. Once a heavy thud was heard, both of them knew that Morris was dead. 

Pierre moved to turn off the machine, but Caroline grabbed him by the wrist, allowing the recording to continue. 

“Caroline, what-” Caroline put a finger to her lips and shushed, telling him to be quiet. Then she looked back at the answering machine. 

Instead of clicking off, the recording continued. The sounds of glass shattering and heavy objects falling over were heard in the background. Once those stopped, someone was heard picking up the phone. Although neither of them could understand what the person was saying, the voice was quite familiar. 

Then, the recording finally cut off. A brief silence ensued, broken when Caroline began speaking. 

“That sounded like...Sebastian? What’s he doing over at Jojamart at a time like this?” Pierre just shrugged. 

Just as he let his shoulders back down, a loud crashing noise came from deeper in the living quarters. Fearing the worst, Caroline and Pierre went to check it out.


	20. Valley Of Tears

Maru hadn’t returned from the clinic yet, which made Robin and Demetrius sick with worry. So much so, that Demetrius had to go out and see if she was all right. Of course, Robin was against it. 

“At least bring me along!” She asked of him. “The last thing I need is to lose both of my children in one day, if I do nothing!” 

Demetrius took hold of her hand, and held it in both of his. “No need to worry, honey. I’m sure Maru will be fine.” 

As expected, he didn’t even so much as mention Sebastian. Robin tried to ignore that as the two of them went off to find Maru, wherever she was. 

…

It was a most shocking scene that Caroline and Pierre had found in their home; the normally proud and impressive Altar of Yoba, which they’d left there for the religious townsfolk, had been smashed to pieces. The idol that sat on top of it had disappeared, and everything else in the room was in disarray.

“How…?” Caroline stepped closer, reaching out to touch one of the fallen pillars. “We were told this place was indestructible when we bought it!”

“And yet this place looks like it had a huge sledgehammer taken to it!” Pierre said next. “How can anything be that powerful? 

“We should probably go find Abigail,” he then told Caroline. Looking behind her shoulder, Caroline nodded and started walking out, with Pierre close behind. 

…

Sam patted the fresh dirt thrown onto the grave for good measure, before swinging his shovel back up onto his shoulder. 

“So who do you think’s going to be the next doctor?” Abigail asked Maru as she watched the Dwarf jump up and start hanging by the handle on Sam’s shovel. 

“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” Maru said as she kept her head down, trying to keep her tears to a minimum. She took her nurse hat off and dabbed her eyes with it. Abigail was about to say something hopefully comforting, when she caught sight of something from out of the corner of her eye. 

Feeling an extreme sense of foreboding swell up inside her, Abigail ran to where she’d seen it. The others had no choice but to follow her. 

Clambering to the ground, onto her knees, Abigail grabbed hold of the article of clothing. To her utter dismay, it was what she thought it was. 

“Huh? That’s…” Sam and Maru’s eyes became wide with fear. Maru took the tore-up fabric from Abigail and looked it over frantically. 

“This is Sebastian’s,” she said to them. “He never goes anywhere without it!” She looked at the others, while bunching it up in her hands. “This can only mean…” 

She trailed off. Then she felt something hit her on the head. Looking up, Maru saw ominous-looking clouds gathering in the sky. 

“Uh oh…” Sam bit his lip as he stared up with the others. “Did the forecast call for this, or is it like all this other crazy stuff happening?” 

He got his answer when the rain began to worsen. In nearly an instant, it went from scattered drops to a torrential shower. 

Now, everyone was shouting and crying as they ran about and sought shelter. Sam grabbed a hold of the Dwarf and held him close against his chest, keeping his head down as he and the girls headed elsewhere. 

…

When it began to rain, Demetrius had pulled Robin under the nearest upright tree for shelter. Now, the two held each other close and watched it downpour. But something seemed odd about this particular shower. 

“Hmmm…” Demetrius put out a hand to collect some of the rainwater, as Robin watched him inspect it, brows furrowed. 

“What is it, dear?” 

When Demetrius tested the rain water in a rather unorthodox and possibly dangerous manner, his expression became more confused. 

“This water is salty. But that can’t be possible.” He let the water trickle from his palm onto the ground. “You’d think this rain had come from a brine pool.” 

Robin stared at her husband, one eyebrow raised. 

“All I know is that if this keeps up, I won’t have any good wood to work with once everything turns back to normal.” 

Then came a sound from far away. It didn’t have a piercing quality like the winds before it, nor did it possess the rumbling noises like the tremors that signified the beginning of all this. Rather, it sounded forlorn, and sad. Who or whatever it was had to clearly be experiencing great anguish.


	21. Rain, Rain, Go Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I forgot all this time that I didn't tag Abigail. That should be fixed now.

All that could be heard was the sound of the pouring rain, as the four of them watched said rain fall from the heavens, from their hastily discovered shelter. Abigail had one of her arms wrapped around Maru, while the Dwarf clutched Sam’s shirt tightly and clung to him like a scared koala. 

“This can’t be good for any crops that have been planted,” Maru said. She was stopped from saying any more, however, when the sobbing noises that were present became louder. 

“This can’t be good for anything, Maru,” Abigail replied as she pulled her closer. 

The two then looked over at Sam, who now had his own arms holding the Dwarf to his chest. He looked quite concerned for him, gently bouncing the Dwarf on his knee as though he were a young child. 

“You okay, pal? You’re shivering,” he whispered to him. Indeed, the Dwarf was trembling, almost violently so. It was hard to tell whether it was from cold, or from fear. Sam looked over at the girls and reached out his arm, apparently banking his hopes on the former. 

“You still got Seb’s hoodie, Abby? I got an idea.” Abigail handed him Sebastian’s wadded up hoodie, which was still fairly damp. Sam then shook it out, and wrung out as much of the water as he could, before rubbing it between his hands to try and warm it up. 

Then he gently pried the Dwarf off his shirt, and pulled the hoodie down onto him. 

“There you go, buddy,” he said to him while he put the arms into the sleeves. “I know it’s not that great, and it might not actually do a whole lot of good right now. It’s better than nothing though, right?” 

The Dwarf lifted up one of his arms, revealing that the sleeves were far too big, and would certainly trail behind him. He then swung the sleeve forward, slapping Sam in the face. 

“Hey!” But behind him, Maru and Abigail couldn’t stop from giggling behind their hands. 

…

Standing under his coat, which had been lifted up over the both of them, Pierre and Caroline continued calling out for their daughter. But no matter how loudly they shouted “Abigail!” or “Abby!”, their voices were silenced quickly by the downpour. 

“She could be almost anywhere at this point, Pierre,” Caroline said as they looked for a better shelter. 

Pierre didn’t answer her. Instead, he was staring intently at something a few feet away from them, barely visible at this point. 

“Are you even listening to me, Pierre?” Caroline watched as he stuck out a hand, and waved it at whatever it was he was looking at. 

It came closer to them before properly revealing itself as Sam and Vincent’s mother. 

…

Jodi made a note to herself to thank her husband when he got back from war; It was his poncho and rain boots that she’d pulled on before grabbing an umbrella and heading outside. 

She felt awful leaving Vincent home alone, but she also hoped that she would find Sam quickly enough that it wouldn’t be for long. 

“You two are looking for the kids, right?” She asked Pierre and Caroline when she got close enough. 

“Well, we’re looking for our kid, if that’s what you want to know.” Jodi then pulled the hood of her rain poncho over her head, and handed the umbrella to both of them. She could already feel the downpour hit more heavily upon her. 

After what felt like an eternity, the rain was letting up somewhat. The three of them briefly looked up, and saw that a couple of the clouds had begun to disperse. Through a small crack in the clouds, they could see the sun peeking through. Then Pierre looked at both women. 

“Let’s get going, before the rain gets worse,” he suggested. Both of them agreed, and the three of them went off toward the forest, calling for their children the whole time. 

…

“Maru! Maru, where are you?!” 

“If you can hear us, honey, say something!” 

When Maru heard her name being called, she and the others peeked out of their hiding place. Off in the distance, her parents could be seen. In an effort to get Robin and Demetrius’ attention, everyone jumped out into the open and waved frantically at them, even jumping a little. They then started calling out for the two of them. 

Robin put her hand up to her brow, squinting to see ahead of her better. When she realized that it was indeed them, her face lit up with joy. 

“Demetrius, it’s her! It’s Maru!” Robin couldn’t contain herself, and neither could Demetrius. The both of them ran as quickly as possible, before reaching Maru and grabbing her into a hug. 

“Oh, Maru!” Demetrius told her. “We were so worried! Thank goodness you’re all right!” 

Sam, Abigail, and the Dwarf looked on without saying a word, before Sam and Abigail heard their own names being called. They both turned to look behind them. 

“Hey, it’s our parents!” Sam told the other two before they ran over to join them. In just a short few seconds, all of them were hugging each other, their speech alternating between scolding and gratefulness. As they did, the rain clouds dispersed, revealing the sun in its full glory. 

Regardless of what was being said, everyone was just happy to be reunited again. If only any of them realized they were being watched. 

But they would learn as such very quickly.


	22. Fight or Flight

Grimacing at the current state of his surroundings, Rasmodius looked back at his tower, hoping it would stay standing by the time he got back. 

“If I’d known it would happen this quickly,” he said to himself, “I would have prepared much more in advance.” Rasmodius then went back into the tower, grabbing what he believed was necessary for yet another trip out into the mess that was becoming this land. Then he stepped further in, and called for Linus. 

“Yes, Rasmodius?” He answered when he peeked out from the trap door in the far back. “What do you need, my friend?” 

Rasmodius grinned when he heard him say ‘friend’, before dropping it and becoming serious again. “Would you keep an eye on this place until I return? Chances are we’ll have company when I get back.” 

Linus was quiet for a moment, before nodding. “Yes, my friend. I will do what’s necessary to protect this place.” 

With that, Rasmodius said once again that he would return soon, and left Linus alone in the tower. 

...

The joyous celebration of the families being reunited was cut short by the sound of wailing. 

“Oh, man! Now what?” Sam called out as he stepped away from his mother and picked the Dwarf back up. His answer was quickly answered when numerous creatures confronted them. 

A mixture of Shadow monsters, both of the Brute and Shaman variety, all forced the group to huddle tighter together. Among their ranks were many walking skeletons, brandishing swords, and stone golems shambling towards them like zombies. 

“Sam, doesn’t your little friend there have explosives?” Abigail asked. The Dwarf grabbed her by the shirt to get her attention, and pointed upward. This led Abigail to say, “Oh, right,” when she realized why he was doing that. 

One of the skeletons leaped forward at them, lifting its blade high above its head. Those closest shrieked, and everyone tried to defend themselves from what would clearly be a fatal blow. 

Or it would be, had it not been blocked. 

The group uncovered their eyes, seeing the guild master Marlon before them, holding off the skeleton’s attack. 

“Marlon!” Robin cried out. Marlon looked over his shoulder at her, and smirked. 

“You and yours always did attract some interesting company, Robby,” he said, before shoving off the skeleton and maintaining a defensive stance. “But for now you all better get outta here before this gets worse.” 

“But what about you?!” Maru cried out, knowing he couldn’t possibly hold them all off. 

Again, Marlon smirked. “This is nothing, dear. Now just get moving!” 

He was already beginning to get overwhelmed by the monsters once the group finally bothered to run off. 

But he kept fighting anyway. 

…

Rasmodius, out of some sort of compelling, had gone into the sewers, and sought out Krobus. Like always, he was in his usual spot, in a far corner. His back was turned when Rasmodius got his attention. 

“Excuse me…” His voice got Krobus to jump, before calming down enough to see who it was. “My apologies for frightening you. I have come to see if you had anything new that could be of help to me.” 

To try and satisfy his request, Krobus stumbled around and looked amongst his wares. Coming up with nothing, he stopped and shook his head. 

“I see…Well, I am sure you’ll come up with something that may be of benefit-” Rasmodius stopped himself when he realized Krobus was trembling, his brow furrowing. “What is it?”

Krobus lifted up one of his legs, and pointed behind him. When he turned to look for himself, the wizard now realized why he was so frightened; standing before them, with clawed hands curling into fists, was the young man that had been left at the hospital. Despite being just as terrified as Krobus was, Rasmodius tried to remain as stoic as he could. 

“So,” he said while taking a step forward, his hand on the staff attached to his back, “It seems you’ve already chosen your vessel, to carry out your punishments upon humanity. Believe it or not, I have been hoping to run into you at some point. I had simply not expected to do so in a place like this.” 

Here, Rasmodius gave off what sounded like a mix of a grunt and a laugh. “But such details mean nothing to you in the grand scheme of things, do they…

“Yoba?”


	23. Yoba's Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: From here on out, assume anything said in brackets (or whatever they're called) is the 'old language'.

Walking a few more steps forward, Rasmodius pulled his staff out and made to ready it.

“<If you believe that I am going to stand down in cowardice, simply because you are the deity of the Earth>,” he said to Yoba in the old language, while taking his free hand to begin summoning magic around it, “<you are sadly mistaken.>” Yoba stayed where he was.

Yoba’s chosen vessel was shirtless. His shoes were gone as well, as were his pants from the knees down. He stretched his arms out toward Rasmodius, showcasing the damage that had rapidly accumulated onto the vessel’s body. The numerous wounds were a mix of fresh ones, and ones likely inflicted long ago. All of them were of varying sizes and types. A few of them even looked infected.

And still, Yoba stood as tall as he could, enduring the pain.

“<’ _He shall come forth, in the guise of a human that is living yet dead_ ’.>” Rasmodius didn’t know Sebastian all that well, but from what he did know, he was not one to socialize, or even go outside all that much. “<I see...The boy you’ve chosen must have been the ideal candidate for you.>”

Krobus stayed behind the Wizard, trembling all the while. He wanted to run, but he also didn’t want to risk being subject to Yoba’s potential anger.

“<But that is of no importance to me right now,>” Rasmodius went on, raising an eyebrow. “<Rather...Why? Why do you not attack me? Do I possess no threat to you?>”

Still, Yoba remained silent. But this time, his entire body stiffened. Rasmodius stepped back, keeping an arm over Krobus.

“<What is it you’re doing now?>” Before he could react, Yoba proceeded to sprint away from his spot, managing to continue doing so going up the ladder. By the time Rasmodius and Krobus got back up to the surface, he was gone.

…

Gathering as much of his remaining strength as he could, Marlon brought his sword down upon the nearest Shadow Brute.

He then stepped back to try and keep from being injured by any of the other remaining monsters. The blood and other innards from the monsters he’d already slain were covering him from head to toe.

“Ugh…I’m usually done by now...” It hurt him to stand, especially on his bad leg. And still he kept trying to hold his sword up. But now he gave a wry smile, like he’d resigned himself to imminent death.

“Well Gil,” he said to himself, pretending his deceased comrade was still with him, “looks like I get to join up with you after all…” Several of the monsters that were left geared up to jump at him, their swords and fangs bared. Marlon just kept smiling, accepting that this was at least a respectable way out. Not that he’d know anyway.

Just as the monsters were about to jump, a massive gust of wind began to blow. Its power was so great, it blew Marlon’s sword out of his hands. He hadn’t much time to react before a loud keening sound followed, causing him to double over and cover his ears.

When he looked back up, Marlon saw the monsters that had been poised to strike, as they turned their backs to him. Not a single one was so much as glancing over their shoulder at him. Not even the gusts and ear-splitting howls bothered them.

“Huh…?” Marlon stood where he was, trying not to get blown away, as he watched all the monsters, Shadows and Skeletons and Golems alike, stepping into straight lines.

Unlike several times before, the wind was slow to finish this time. The shrieking faded before the wind did, as well. When both were gone, all of the creatures fell into poses of genuflection, row by row from the front.

“Oh, now what?” Marlon’s question was answered when he looked straight ahead, watching a figure appear from behind some foliage. As soon as he was close enough, Marlon blinked his eyes in disbelief.

“Wait a minute...that you, Sebastian? What in blue blazes happened to you?!” His question went ignored, along with himself.

Sebastian approached the group of monsters before him, looking over them as though inspecting them. Then he stepped closer to one of the Shadow Shamans.

Marlon watched in stunned silence as Sebastian raised a clawed hand, and swiftly brought it down onto the Shaman, killing it instantly. And still, the other monsters didn’t so much as flinch.

By this point, Marlon had seen enough. Attempting to get a proper pace going, he turned and tried to leave. His bad leg started acting up, however, causing him to fall to the ground. It was then that Sebastian took notice of him, and approached.

“Eh?” When Marlon saw Sebastian’s bare feet, he was compelled to look up to his face. “Now what’s going on here?” He asked of him.

Instead of giving him an answer, Sebastian lifted up the same hand he’d used to kill the Shadow Shaman. It was covered in a sort of black sludge that he assumed had been the creature’s blood.

Marlon tried to get back up, but couldn’t do so; when he managed to lift his upper body up, Sebastian just pressed a foot to his face, and roughly shoved him with it.

“Ack!” Marlon was starting to get mad now. “Now what’s going on here with you?!”

As he tried to get back onto his feet, Sebastian stepped towards him again. This time, he raised his bloodied hand above his head, baring his teeth in a grim scowl.


	24. You're Fired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people just want to watch the world burn. And some people don't.

Everybody in the group, even the Dwarf, flinched when they heard a blood-curdling howl of pain.

“Oh no…” Robin whispered, lifting a hand up to her face. “Marlon, no…” Demetrius put his hands on her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

“He did it to make sure we all got away safely, dear,” he told her. “The least we can do is keep moving. We must make certain his sacrifice wasn’t for nothing.”

Robin kept staring for a little longer, then put her hand on top of one of his, nodding. The both of them then caught up with Maru and the others.

…

It was beginning to get much darker out now, though there was still light off in the distance.

Stepping out of the sewer via the passage, Rasmodius took hold of Krobus, hoping he could reach the tower before his condition began to deteriorate again.

“Here,” Rasmodius said as he lifted his hat off and set it on Krobus’ head. “Perhaps that may be of some relief to you until sunset.”

He then put a hand up to his brow, shielding his eyes from any sun he might inadvertently get caught in. To his confusion, no remaining sunbeams flashed into his face. Then he sniffed the air a bit, cringing at the foul stink that was about now.

“I don’t understand,” he said as Krobus tried stumbling around with his hat on. Rasmodius took a few steps forward. “Is a sunset not due west? What other explanation could there be…?”

Then he stopped, and immediately put two and two together. Once he did, he broke into a run, leaving Krobus behind.

…

It was a horrific scene the group was returning to. One of them, no one remembered who it was, pointed out that they could see fire some ways off in the mountains.

Robin’s eyes widened when she heard ‘mountains’, with Demetrius and Maru doing the same. By the time everyone managed to run to the clearing, it was already too late.

The three of them could only look on in silence and horror as their beloved house burned to the ground, at least half of it already reduced to charred wood.

Robin began to shake her head rapidly, before shouting out a pained “No! No, this can’t be happening!” She tried to run toward the flames, but her daughter grabbed her by the wrist.

“Mom, no!” Maru cried out, desperately trying to pull Robin away from the wreckage. Still, Robin persisted in trying to reach it, stretching out her free arm to try and grab something of it. “Mom, there’s nothing we can do! It’s ruined!”

But nothing she said could stop her mother, not until the last few pieces of their home collapsed and burned. It was only then that Maru let go, causing her mother to slump to the ground on her knees. Now Robin gaped at the scorched remains of what was once her house, her jaw dropped in shock.

“No…” She whispered while shaking her head again, more slowly this time. “All those years I spent building this place…”

Robin clasped her hands over her face, dropping her head downwards. “All the wasted years…” She moaned, her voice muffled.

At both her sides, Demetrius and Maru knelt next to her. Everyone else stood sadly behind them as Robin let out heavy sobs, mourning the beloved home she built with her own hands.

…

Shuffling closer to the other couple, Jodi put a hand on Caroline’s shoulder, and shook her gently to get her attention.

“I hate to leave them behind like this,” she whispered to her and Pierre. “But shouldn’t we get back to town? I’m sure the other townsfolk are wondering what’s going on, and I need to check on Vincent.”

Caroline and Pierre nodded, as did the other three. Slowly, one by one, they all turned to go, taking the long way this time. When Abigail and Sam were walking behind their parents, they looked behind at Robin and her family.

“We still don’t know where Seb is,” Sam whispered to Abigail, as he readjusted the Dwarf so he could cling to his back like a baby koala.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” she whispered back. She didn’t sound too sure, though. “I doubt he’d be dumb enough to stay in a burning house, basement or not.”

“But how’d the house burn down in the first place? Didn’t Robin use some of that fire-resistant stuff? I think I overheard her say that when we were hanging out with Seb one time.”

Abby cringed. “Fire _resistant_ does not mean fire _proof_ , Sam. Almost anything can burn if it’s hot enough.”

As though to agree with her, the Dwarf leaned back a little bit and nodded vigorously. Abigail just raised an eyebrow at him.

“I don’t want to know how you know that,” she said to him. She also hoped that the Dwarf practiced safe explosion protocol, should that be how he knew.

Then the three of them looked at their parents, who were now farther away. Picking up the pace, they tried to catch up, resulting in walking in front of their parents now.

As soon as everyone reached town, the Dwarf perked up and put his hands onto Sam’s head. He also positioned his feet onto his shoulders, trying to look over his head. Abigail just sighed.

“Aren’t you ever going to give that thing a name, if you do end up keeping it?”

Sam just frowned at her, giving her a pout with his lips. “He’s not a thing! I don’t know _what_ he is, but he isn’t a thing!”

While they were talking, the Dwarf suddenly began to make noises, presumably him speaking in his people’s language. He then began bouncing in place, and grabbed fistfuls of Sam’s hair, proceeding to yank said hair.

“Ow! Ow!” Sam tried to look up at him. “What is it, little guy?”

The Dwarf proceeded to jump off, using Sam’s head and shoulders as a sort of launch pad. He then skittered off towards town, leaving everyone else too stunned to comprehend what just happened.

After only a few brief moments, they all snapped out of it and all ran back to town, following the Dwarf as best they could.

As soon as they reached the middle of town, they could all see some of the townsfolk standing in both awe and terror, a few of them looking in the opposite direction.

“What’s going on?” Caroline asked.

Pierre answered that question for her, when he looked towards his store and then screamed in disbelief. His wife and daughter joined in with him.


	25. Dwarf to the Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected hero appears!

“Our home!” Caroline yelled out as she watched said home burning before her eyes. 

“David!” Abigail shouted after her. There was no doubt in her mind that her guinea pig would have died. From either burning or smoke inhalation, she wouldn’t know. 

“My store!” Pierre said last. Before his eyes, hundreds if not thousands worth of merchandise was being destroyed. 

Jodi and Sam looked on in silence, watching as Abigail and her parents huddled together into a hug, lamenting the fact that they were now homeless. They tried to look away, only to find another awful burning situation. 

Neither of them could speak, they were both too traumatized to actually do anything, although their home was the one on fire. They just stared, too scared to move. Then, Jodi came to a horrific realization, her face taking on the look of true and utter terror. 

“Oh, no…!” Her eyes wide, Jodi spun her son around, she grabbed him by the shoulders and began shaking him. 

“Sam!” She shrieked to him, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. “Sam, your brother’s in there!” Now it was his turn to feel the blood in his veins become ice. He grabbed her by the wrists to get him to stop shaking, and looked right into her eyes. He opened his mouth, but no words could be heard. He just looked over, a heavy feeling of dread within him, not knowing what to do. 

Then, the two of them heard Abigail shout “Look!” and point toward the blaze. And the two looked back at the burning store to see what she was indicating towards. 

…

Pushing a well-scorched wooden beam out of his way, the Dwarf struggled to keep his footing amongst the debris and falling house. It wasn’t helped by the heavy rucksack he carried upon his back. Still, he pressed on. 

Once the Dwarf reached the store section of the building, he stretched up as high as he could to grab a hold of the nearby cash register on a display case. Miraculously, it hadn’t melted, though it was still quite hot and hurt to touch. 

The Dwarf held it above his head, and stumbled out of the burning building. The townsfolk were all quite surprised to see an unknown little creature jumping out and towards Pierre and his family. 

“What the…!” The three of them watched as the Dwarf threw the register onto the ground, having had quite enough of holding it. He then set the rucksack onto the ground next to it, gently this time. But before anyone could ask what he was doing, he ran off towards Sam and Jodi’s house. The two had little other choice but to follow. 

…

It hurt to breathe right now, and it was super hot. 

Vincent tried to curl up into himself, trying not to breathe in too much smoke. The fire raged around him, terrifying him. Rocking back and forth now, his arms covering his head, Vincent began crying. 

“Mommy!” He said to himself, in a futile effort to calm himself. “Daddy! Sam!” Nearby, the sound of his bedroom door crashing to the floor could be heard. He said one last thing before he resigned himself to a painful death: 

“Help…” 

Just then, Vincent felt himself being picked up and hoisted over someone’s shoulder. His eyes were wide as he was carried past the flaming interior of his home. 

…

With the sound and sight of burnt wood crashing to the ground, Jodi and Sam could only watch in tense fear. Both of them flinched when they saw more of it fall into itself. 

Jodi took a cautious, tentative step toward the fire, trying to avoid the embers that were scattering into the air. She then scrambled backwards as the remains of their front door smashed forward. 

From the newly created doorway toppled out the Dwarf. To Sam and Jodi’s surprise, he was carrying Vincent over his shoulder. He let him go once they were far enough away from the fire, before falling face down onto the ground. 

Vincent looked around him, awestruck over the sudden change in the environment. He was then caught up in a sort of double hug from his mother and brother. Behind them, the fires were finally beginning to show signs of dying out. 

“Oh, thank goodness, Vincent!” Jodi said, crying tears of relief. “I thought I’d lost you!” 

“Mom! Quit hogging him! I wanna hug him too, you know!” Sam pried his mother’s arms off of Vincent, and held his little brother closer to himself. In turn, Jodi wrapped her arms around both of her sons, not really caring that Vincent was covered with patches of soot and getting it on them too. 

A few feet away from them, the Dwarf stirred. He lifted his head up, looking to his right, then to his left. Then, he got to his feet in an unsteady manner, wobbling and stumbling around like a drunkard. Jodi looked over at him, before letting go and running over to pick him up. It seemed as though her initial disdain for him had now vanished. 

“You rescued my son! Oh, I can’t thank you enough for that, but thank you, thank you, thank you!” She then held him close to her chest, hugging him tightly enough to make him let out a sound similar to that of a deflating balloon. The Dwarf wriggled out of her grip, and jumped over to Sam, leaping into his arms instead. 

“Thanks for saving my brother, little dude!” Sam carefully held the Dwarf to himself, rubbing their cheeks together. “You’re awesome!” 

Sam didn’t expect to hear what he heard next. He could’ve sworn he imagined it, had his mother and Vincent not heard it too. 

“Hey, what’d he just say?” Vincent was as curious as could ever be. Even Jodi was staring in awe at the two of them. 

Sam held out the Dwarf in front of him, and blinked a few times. This time he heard it along with the other two: 

“Sam!” The Dwarf cried out! “Sam!” Then he reached his arms out towards him, like he wanted a hug. Sam was happy to oblige. 

Their impromptu celebration, however, was cut short by someone else’s arrival.


	26. What you Are in the Dark

With heaving breaths, heavy enough to make his lungs hurt, Rasmodius doubled down and panted. He also let out an occasional cough.

He then looked up and, upon seeing the destroyed buildings, brought himself back up to full height, completely dismayed.

“No…” He said in a raspy voice, while trying to catch his breath. “I was too late…” All the townsfolk looked at him, wondering why the weird guy who lived in the forest was here. Then Abigail and her parents approached.

“What do you mean ‘too late’? Did you actually run all the way here?” Abigail asked as her eyebrow raised almost involuntarily. “Couldn’t you have just used your magic or something?”

Rasmodius just stared at her, only now realizing he could have done that instead. In frustration, he smacked his palm against his face.

“It appears I do not think very well in times of distress,” he muttered.

“That’s gotta be an understatement,” Caroline whispered to Pierre out of the corner of her mouth, who rolled his eyes before nodding in agreement.

…

Sam and the Dwarf watched as the wizard began speaking with Abigail about things he was sure to be familiar with. Then he looked back over to his mother and brother.

“I’ll be right back,” he told them as he then approached Abigail and the wizard, letting the Dwarf ride on his back again. He got there just as Abigail asked a possibly obvious yet important question:

“So if these fires were all caused by Yoba, then how mad is he?”

Rasmodius’ already uneasy facial expression became even more so. “Surprisingly, this is simply Yoba’s equivalent of a hissy fit.

“However…” He looked behind his shoulder, contemplating. “If we act quickly enough, you may not have to experience his true rage.”

Then Rasmodius turned back to the way he came from. “Both of you, come with me.” Then he looked at the Dwarf, who was peeking at him from behind Sam’s head. “You as well.”

Sam and Abby just made eye contact with each other, and shrugged, before following him. But they didn’t get far before they were stopped by someone shouting at them.

…

“Pierre, no!” Caroline desperately tried to pull her husband away from the others, which just resulted in Pierre dragging her behind him.

“Come on, Caroline!” He said to her without so much as a glance at her. “I’m tired of worrying about whether or not she’s going to come back alive!”

When she saw that her parents were following her, Abigail sighed frustratedly. Sam just awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Then he saw Jodi and Vincent come over as well, curious over the situation.

“Dad!” Abigail said when her parents were close enough. “I’m old enough to explore, for crying out loud!”

“For crying out loud is right!” The two bickered as Sam quietly shuffled over to his mother. He then leaned over so she could hear him better.

“You and Vincent can come along if you want, Mom,” he whispered to her, “and if the Wizard dude here says it’s okay.”.

The three of them looked at Rasmodius, who in turn looked back over to Abigail and her parents. He then casually shrugged.

“As much as I don’t wish to, it would seem I would have little choice in the matter.”

…

On the way to Rasmodius’ tower, the mood was awkward and uncomfortable. Nobody really wanted to talk, not even to discuss the ongoing events.

No matter how far ahead Abigail tried to go, Pierre seemed intent on catching up. She then settled for walking right next to Sam and the Dwarf.

“I tell you,” Abigail said to Sam in a low voice, so Pierre couldn’t hear her, “Right now I’m really wishing the wizard guy was my dad.”

Sam didn’t give a response. Instead, he just leaned forward a bit to get a better look at the wizard. Rasmodius himself was looking back and forth intently.

“Mommy,” Vincent spoke to Jodi, “who’s the purple haired man?”

“Well, honey,” Jodi began, “he’s the man who sets up the Spirit’s Eve festival every year.”

But then he completely forgot about what he asked when she mentioned the festival. “When am I gonna get to go into the maze when Spirit’s Eve comes?”

“When you’re older, honey,” Jodi finished with a giggle, to Vincent’s disappointment accompanied by a dejected “Awww…”

Everyone else was quiet again. In fact, none of them could say a word when Rasmodius suddenly ran ahead into the middle of a clear spot. Then he knelt down to pick something up. Once everyone caught up, he stared at his tower, holding what turned out to be his hat.

“Mister Rasmodius? What is it?” Caroline asked of him. He turned his head to reveal that his face now looked deathly pale.

“Krobus…Linus…” He just whispered. Then he broke out into a sprint towards his tower, not even bothering to put his hat back on.

“Who’s that now?” Pierre said, to no one really.

…

Rasmodius ended up just kicking his door open in haste, quickly slamming it back shut behind him. He then searched frantically about the room, seeing that the inside was now an absolute mess. His cauldron was knocked over onto its side, its green contents spilled out onto a good portion of the floor. Surrounding him were a plethora of his books, all with pages torn out, if not completely shredded.

“Linus!” He called out. “Linus, can you hear me?!” He was panting heavily, waiting for an answer. When he didn’t get one, he stumbled into the back part of the place. He tried again. “Linus! If you can hear me, say something!” This time, he got a response.

“Rasmodius!” Linus cried out, his voice coming from the basement. “Is that you, my friend?!”

“Yes, Linus!” The wizard ran over and tried to get the hatch to his basement open. It didn’t budge. “Fear not, I’ll try and get you out!”

The words Linus said next were unexpected. “No, Rasmodius! You must leave now! You are in terrible danger! Do not worry about us, and save yourself!”

“What? Linus, what madness are you speaking? What danger?!” He kept pulling at the hatch handle, apparently forgetting he could use magic. “And who is in there with you?!”

Linus was sounding increasingly desperate by each second Rasmodius stayed. “Please, my friend! Leave the Shadow Monster and I! You must go now!”

“Shadow monster?” At least now Rasmodius knew where Krobus went. After a brief moment of hesitation, he snapped out of it and continued in vain to get the hatch open. “No! I’m not leaving here without you!”

“You don’t understand, Rasmodius!” Linus shouted again, now practically begging him to go. “It’s him! He’s here in the tower! Please, run!”

This shocked the wizard enough to let go of the handle, and stumble backwards before falling over onto his rear. Then his vision was engulfed in sudden, pitch-black darkness.


	27. Tower of Terror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rasmodius has an unwelcome guest in his home, big time.

Unable to make sense of his surroundings now, Rasmodius tried backing up into what was either a wall or a bookshelf. In doing so, he stepped on a few scattered books and pulled them apart from their bindings, making an unnecessary amount of noise. His breathing was heavy, and his heart was pounding mercilessly.

He then stumbled back to where he believed the hatch to be, and frantically sought it out. To his dismay and confusion, he couldn’t find it. Becoming even more desperate now, Rasmodius clawed his way through the mess.

When he did find the hatch, he didn’t get the chance to feel relief. The instant his fingertips reached it, he felt a foot stomp down hard onto his hand. Rasmodius resisted the urge to shout out in pain, as he looked up at who it was.

But he already knew, even from the severe loss of his vision in the darkness; He didn’t know anyone else who possessed those golden eyes, glowing so brightly.

Rasmodius’ eyes widened, knowing what was about to happen to him.

…

Everyone in the group was still baffled by what frightened the wizard so badly. They all still took their time getting to his tower.

Abigail reached out to open the door when she heard loud banging noises coming from inside, causing her to flinch back. She could only stare, wide-eyed, as the door then shook with impact from the other side.

“What the…” More banging, another impact.

“I guess someone got mad that the wizard didn’t invite them over to hang out,” Sam said as he stepped next to Abigail to try and hear better.

They barely got out of the way in time, as the door was then smashed apart in front of them. The wizard was then flung out, having been thrown against the door hard enough to break it.

As Sam and Abigail then hurried back to their families, they could hear something unfamiliar to their ears; the sound of a voice that wasn’t quite human.

…

Rasmodius struggled to stand back up, clutching one of his arms as he looked up to where he’d been thrown from. Gritting his teeth, he looked up and gasped at what Yoba had managed to grab from him.

“No! That’s my…How did you get that?!” Yoba held up Rasmodius’ staff, as though displaying it for all the world to see. Then, he turned it so he was holding it vertically, in the center.

He then broke it in half, with no more difficulty that if it were a toothpick. The two now useless pieces of wood clattered to the ground before him, to the wizard’s horror.

“< _Is this why you had waited? So that you could attack me at the source? Answer me! > _”

“What’s he saying now?” Sam asked the others, but received no response. Rasmodius looked over at all of them, focusing especially on Abigail and Sam. Now, he was even more terrified as he looked back at Yoba.

They were about to learn the truth, whether they were ready or not.

…

Sam was forced to look back towards the wizard when the Dwarf suddenly began to act agitated.

“Hey buddy, what is it- Ow! Ow!” The Dwarf had grabbed some of Sam’s hair and pulled on it, using his other hand to rapidly point at what was happening.

Against any proper reasoning skills, he and Abigail took a step forward to see what was bothering the Dwarf. In a sort of mirroring action, their parents and brother stepped back a few feet just in case.

Nobody could understand what Rasmodius was saying now, to whoever it was he was talking to. The Dwarf possibly could, but chances were nobody else would understand him either unless he pantomimed it out.

They stepped a little closer before Rasmodius shot out a hand in their direction, his palm outstretched in an effort to dissuade them.

“Don’t!” He shouted at them, now making a shooing motion. “He’ll see you as a threat! Now get back!”

“Who’s gonna see us as a threat?” Abigail asked, perhaps a bit too loudly. Rasmodius just looked back at the entrance to his tower, his very being filled with unfathomable dread and fear. Sam and Abby then saw who was coming out, and the two of them were absolutely thunderstruck.


	28. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did everyone have a good holiday? 
> 
> Because I didn't. But eh, not going to let it bother me.

“Sebastian!” In sync, Abigail and Sam cried out their pal’s name. They didn’t know what was more unbelievable: that they managed to find him, or the horrific state he was in. 

Upon hearing his name, Sebastian looked at them. His eyes were blank, covered instead by what looked like gold plating. He also bared his teeth in a displeased scowl. 

“Are you alright, Sebastian?” Abigail asked in a pleading tone, like she wanted him to say he was. 

“Dude, what happened to you?” Sam was just as frantic as she was in getting answers. 

He didn’t respond to either of them. What he did do was look back at Rasmodius, narrowing his eyes. 

…

Rasmodius was shaking terribly when Yoba looked him right in the eyes, but he stayed upright as well as he could. He then broke off the eye contact to look back at Sam and Abigail. 

“I didn’t want you to know the truth until you were ready,” he croaked out, now limping towards everyone. “When I told you that your friend’s life was not in danger-” 

He was interrupted by a sudden coughing fit, which resulted in blood spewing out of his mouth. Then he kept talking, the vital fluid trickling down his chin. 

“You must forgive me, but I had lied to you then! His life was already gone, his body turned into the vessel for Yoba’s divine wrath! I hadn’t wanted any of you to know the truth then, for fear you wouldn’t believe me-” 

Rasmodius was again cut short when Yoba ran up to him and clawed him hard across the face. He fell to the ground, hearing the others scream as he did. 

Almost subconsciously, Sam and Abigail stepped back towards their families, in fear of their own lives. Sam also reached a hand up to try and comfort the Dwarf, who was trembling uncontrollably. 

In an effort to get back up, Rasmodius was pushed down again, with Yoba pressing a foot into his back to hold him there. 

“The legends are unfolding just as they’ve predicted! Yoba has taken over your friend’s body, and is now using it to deliver vengeance for what the earth has suffered through all of these millenia!” 

Rasmodius’ incessant talking was apparently making Yoba quite angry. In order to make him shut up, he stomped onto one of Rasmodius’ hands, and ground his heel into the back of it. As he did, everyone could hear the sound of bones breaking. The wizard himself tried not to cry out in pain this time. 

“Shouldn’t we do something?!” Jodi cried out, holding Vincent as close to her as she could. She, Caroline, and Pierre waited until the other three were closer to them, poised to run off if need be. 

Just as Rasmodius was about to tell them, however, Yoba’s eyes widened. He stepped off of him, and lifted up his hands and arms, looking back and forth between them. 

“Wait, now what’s happening?” Caroline and Pierre leaned in a little closer, as confused as everyone else was at Yoba’s sudden change in demeanor. 

Stepping back away from all of them, Yoba began to make whimpering sounds as several of the wounds on his body started to bleed. He then looked frantically around him, his lower lip moving erratically. Taking this chance, Rasmodius crawled over to the group as quickly as his damaged body would allow. 

The whimpering grew louder, and more pained. Yoba wrapped his arms around himself, and doubled over. Then, in a sort of delayed reaction, the earth began to quake. 

Being caught completely off guard by this, the group all toppled over like bowling pins. Nearby, several of the few trees still standing were now crashing to the ground alongside the rest of their fallen kind. How none of them hit anybody was a miracle. 

It seemed like forever until the tremors stopped. When they did, the group stared up in various directions while completely dazed, not bothering to stand back up in case it started again. 

Abigail was the first to regain her focus. She looked over at everyone, then stood up and dusted herself off. She then looked over at the still doubled over body, and took a few wary steps while reaching out to him. 

“Hey Sebas- I mean Yoba. Hey, are you okay-” 

Her hand was only about a couple inches away when his head snapped up, opening his mouth as wide as it could be, and let loose with an unearthly shriek. 

Stumbling back, Abigail covered her ears, as did the others. A powerful gust of wind kicked up, threatening to knock her back onto the ground. She squinted to look through her hair, which was being blown against her face and making it almost impossible for her to see.

The way Yoba was making Sebastian’s face look as he was screaming made him barely seem human. He stood back up and clutched his head, still managing to keep an unbroken streak of howling. 

Almost immediately after, Yoba turned and ran off to the forest, holding his head the whole time. 

…

For what felt like hours, the wind still blew, its shrill whistling going into everyone’s ears like a power drill on the highest setting. Even when it finally subsided, there was still the horrid ringing in their ears. 

Not that anyone really had anything to say anyway. They all just carefully got to their feet, a couple of them shoving their fingers into their ears and twisting them. 

Due to the severe beating he’d sustained from Yoba’s ambush, Rasmodius was having a harder time staying on his feet. As he managed to do so, he limped on his way back to his tower. He stopped when he reached the bottom of the stairs, and gave another look at the group. 

“If any of you so wish,” he told them in a raspy voice, “you may take residence here for the time being. It will not be-” He stopped due to a coughing fit, which wracked his entire body, causing more blood to splatter out in front of him. 

He tried to subdue it as quickly as he could, then kept talking after wiping the blood off his chin. “It will not be of any inconvenience to me, I assure you. Until you all have homes to return to once again, then by all means…”

Rasmodius then let go of his arm, and gestured to his tower, before ascending the stairs one by one. It looked as though he was having a hard time keeping his balance. 

Abigail and Sam’s families looked at each other, then to their children. Nobody knew what to say. 

The silence was awkward, and the Dwarf seemed to sense it. He jumped off of Sam’s shoulder, and began tugging on his hand. Without saying a word, Sam complied, and let the Dwarf lead him to the tower. In short time, the rest followed.


	29. Surprise, Surprise

It took the combined efforts of Sam, Pierre, and the Dwarf to get the hatch to Rasmodius’ basement opened, and even then it was difficult. Everyone else just sat and watched patiently.

Rasmodius himself was cradling his badly damaged arm, cringing as he tried not to cause too much more pain to it.

“Considering that this was all caused by Yoba himself,” he muttered to the others, “I’m thankful he didn’t try to rip my spine out.”

He was then greeted with the sound of footsteps frantically clambering out of the basement, and then a pair of hands clapping onto his shoulders.

“Rasmodius! Oh, thank goodness you’re alive, my friend!” Linus just about collapsed in relief. “When I became aware of Yoba’s presence nearby, I feared the worst.”

“And the worst had almost come to pass,” Rasmodius told him while lifting up his bad arm. “It were nothing but sheer luck that I wasn’t torn to pieces.”

A few feet away, Sam flopped down next to Abigail, who was eerily quiet. He looked over at her, unable to break the silence. She was just staring down at the floor, her eyes set in a despondent manner.

Sam just looked down at his own feet, barely noticing the Dwarf coming over to sit on him.

…

Left with little other choice, Robin and her family ended up staying in the nearby guild building for the night, having no home left to sleep in now.

The inside was a disaster; weapons were snapped and shattered into pieces, strewn all over the place. Several of the floorboards were tore out and missing.

Perhaps what disturbed Maru the most was seeing the decomposing remains of old man Gil laying on the floor in the back room. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume that a couple of the monsters tried to eat him.

Unfortunately, it was too late in the night to go out and bury him.

Maru was laying on the top bunk in the back room, her parents managing to occupy the one below her. She couldn’t bear to sleep in the same room with a partly eaten corpse like her mother and father somehow could.

As quietly as she could, Maru crawled over to the ladder connecting the two beds, and carefully climbed down to the floor. She then pulled the front of her shirt up and covered her nose and mouth with it, before sneaking out of the guild house.

Maru managed to make it out into the open, before uncovering her face and starting to cough. She tried breathing in, and regretted it instantly; the air outside was actually even worse. She threw herself onto the side of the house nearest to her, and continued coughing and groaning.

She could still hear sounds around her, like rustling from some nearby bushes. It got her to stop hacking like crazy, and cover her face up again.

“Hello…? Who’s there?” Maru wished she could run back into the guild house and grab her glasses; it wasn’t very easy to see her surroundings unless she squinted.

Making sure there wasn’t anything to trip on, Maru took a few tentative steps forward, then strained to hear better. She heard the rustling again, closer by this time. And this time, it was followed by groans of pain.

Her breathing got deeper, regardless of the putrid stink around her. She could also feel herself sweating. There was definitely something close to her.

Once Maru caught the source of the noise, she stared at it for a few moments, before warily making her way to it.

What, or rather, who she saw, took her by complete surprise, albeit of the pleasant kind. Maru almost couldn’t control her joy and relief when she ran over and wrapped her arms around him, and cried out:

“Marlon! Oh, Marlon, you’re alive!”


	30. Rumors of My Death are Greatly Exaggerated

Exactly how long Marlon had been out, he wasn’t certain. He was certain that when he came to, he was still alive. After all, a dead man couldn’t feel pain. 

Pain was what he was feeling right now, with Robin’s daughter hugging him so tightly and crying tears of joy. 

“Marlon!” Maru cried out when she pulled back and stood back up. “We all thought you were dead!” In an effort to calm her, Marlon just gave an amused smirk. 

“Come on now, Miss Maru,” he said as he struggled to his feet. “You’ve known me since you were a tiny little thing. You of all people should know it takes more than a few scrapes and scratches to take me down.” 

Even he knew he’d taken more than that, however. A direct attack from the deity of the earth himself could hardly be called that. Marlon wasn’t really sure how he managed to survive, let alone be able to talk. 

“As much as I hate to inconvenience you, Miss Maru,” he said while trying to balance weight onto his injured leg, “could you maybe help this old fool back to the guild? I’d much appreciate that.” 

“Yes! Of course!” Maru let him lean onto her shoulder, wrapping an arm around his back. “Mom and Dad are going to be so happy to see you!”

With that, the two hobbled along back to the guild.

…

Later that night, everyone in the wizard’s tower was fast asleep, in whatever places they could make themselves comfortable in. 

The only one who hadn’t managed to go to sleep was Sam, who had the earlier events replaying continuously in his mind. He was actually surprised that Abigail wasn’t awake with him, since she actually got a bit closer than he did to whatever it was that had taken Sebastian over. 

Sebastian’s body looked tore up, so much so that there was no way he wasn’t suffering. That alone would have haunted Sam’s mind, even without everything else happening. 

Looking up to make sure his family and the others were still asleep, Sam got to his feet, and carefully tiptoed to the front door. He was about to put his hand onto the door handle when he felt his other hand being tugged at. 

“Huh…?” Sam looked down to see the Dwarf pulling at his arm, sounding rather frantic as he did. 

“Sam!” The Dwarf said his name perhaps a little too loudly, repeating it as he tried pulling harder on his arm. “Sam!” 

Although his concern was understood, and perhaps just a little endearing, Sam just took his free hand and patted it a few times on the Dwarf’s helmet. 

“Don’t worry, little guy,” he whispered. “I’ll try to come back as quick as I can. Think you can keep an eye on my mom and little brother until then?” 

The Dwarf still yanked on his arm, but with not as much strength, until pulling away completely. Even though Sam couldn’t see any of his face besides his eyes, he was sure the Dwarf was confused and very worried as he looked up at him. 

“I won’t be gone long,” He finished before reaching back to take hold of the door handle again. “I promise.” 

All the Dwarf could do now was sadly watch as Sam gradually pulled the door open, and slid out through the space he made, before closing it shut behind him. 

…

“Mom! Dad!” Maru called out when she managed to get Marlon back to the guild building. “Wake up! You won’t believe who I found!” 

It took a few moments for Robin and Demetrius to awaken and go check out what their daughter was calling them for. 

Robin came out first, rubbing her eyes to try and wake herself up quicker. Once she opened them, they widened in surprise and joy, as she clasped her hands over her mouth. Then she pulled them away to display a huge smile on her face. 

“Marlon!” She cried out as she went over to hug him, tears of joy and relief in her eyes. “You’re alive! Oh, it’s a miracle!” 

“A miracle, indeed!” Demetrius added when he got next to the others. “The last we saw you, you were fighting off all those foul monsters that encountered us.” 

Marlon just snorted at this, before turning serious. He stepped out of Robin’s arms and hobbled to the nearest usable chair in the place. 

“Funny you mention that, Mister Dem,” he said as he sat down as carefully as he could. “This is probably going to take a while to explain…”


	31. Beyond Belief

Sam had gotten farther than he thought when he began to hear sounds of distress. Looking behind him, Rasmodius’ tower was well off in the distance.

What lay ahead of him now was the town, or at least what remained of it. It caused Sam an untold amount of sorrow that the home he’d grown up in was now gone, when he walked up to it and stared at it all. Looking at his now wrecked belongings in the rubble didn’t really help, either.

In an effort to get this image out of his mind, Sam ran off towards the other side of town. It, too, was badly damaged from all the Yoba-induced environmental disasters. Even the mighty Jojamart building was partially collapsed in on itself.

Carefully, Sam climbed over the large pieces of metal and sheetrock in his way. He then looked behind his shoulder again, staring at the lights of the remaining buildings in town. When he looked back into the store, the contrast between light and darkness caused his eyes to hurt a little.

On the floor before him were numerous Joja products, all ruined beyond use. Sam bent down out of curiosity to examine one of them, and raised an eyebrow at the label ‘Drinkable Frosting’. He then dropped it back onto the floor and began to search the place, starting with the shelves that managed to remain standing.

…

“I’m getting the feeling you three ain’t going to believe what I say,” Marlon told Robin and her family as he tried making himself comfortable. “No, I _know_ you three ain’t going to believe me.”

Marlon looked shell-shocked as he looked down to the floor, avoiding their gazes. “When I was fighting off them monsters to let you all get away, something…bizarre happened. It were right before one of them was gonna kill me-”

He paused when he saw the looks on their faces, and registered their flinching. He made some kind of waving motion with his hand, to try and make it clear that he wasn’t some sort of zombie or anything.

“Right before that. Then they all just…” Marlon’s eyes grew big, still disbelieving of the events that had happened. “They all just stopped.”

“What do you mean by ‘stopped’, Marlon?” Demetrius inquired. “Had they been possessed by something?”

Marlon shrugged. “You could say that. Apparently them monsters got themselves a leader, or something like that. Whatever he was to them, they all just pretty much started worshiping him once he showed up. They forgot I even existed, it seemed.”

“Worship?” Maru spoke now. “Like a god to the monsters?”

“Yes, that sounds about right, Miss Maru. He were the god to those beasties. And that’s where things get complicated, and worrisome.”

He cringed quite a bit now, prompting Robin to lean in and grab him by the shoulders, and almost beg of him:

“What do you mean? How is it worrisome?”

Marlon took a deep breath, trying to ignore the throbbing pain of the slash marks embedded in his back. “That god of theirs, well…” He looked right at Robin now.

“I ain’t wanting to get you worked up, Robby, but...well, you know all the natural disasters what’s been going on lately?” He cringed again, realizing that was an incredibly stupid thing to say. “I’m thinking I know the cause of it now. The same thing what got me all beat up like this.”

He was done prancing around the subject now. “Whatever that thing is what’s going around tearing up the place and everything? It’s got your son.

“That is to say, this thing’s taken over your son. I know because that’s who I saw when I was getting my ass handed to me by him earlier.”

It took Robin a moment to completely register what Marlon just told her. Then, her eyes widened in shock and disbelief as she covered her mouth with her hands for the second time that night.

This time, there was tears and trembling to go along with it.

…

No matter how much Sam searched everything surrounding him, all he saw were destroyed products and other strange things. Certainly nothing useful.

It was beginning to dawn on him just how awful Jojamart’s products were now, and couldn’t believe he and his family were just consuming this garbage over the years.

“Man…” He whispered to himself. “No wonder the environment’s mad at everybody-”

He was cut off when he heard noises a few feet away. Trying to look around quickly for cover, Sam just ran behind a shelf that had been shoved into another position. He then peeked from behind it, hazarding a look at what was going on.


	32. The Dark before Dawn

Sam tried not to run off once he saw what was going on. Hearing the gross chewing noises didn’t help either.

Before him were a small group of Shadow monsters, devouring the now even more bloated corpse of Jojamart’s local representative. It took a lot of willpower not to throw up at the sight.

“Ewww…” Sam said as quietly as he could, when he saw one monster actually take hold of one of Morris’ legs, and tug the meat and fat straight off the bone.

Having seen enough of that, Sam turned away and held his face in his hands. He didn’t look back to see what was happening to the now restless-sounding monsters. But he listened instead.

It sounded as though an unexpected visitor had arrived, going by the hushed murmuring that the Shadow Monsters were emitting. Said murmuring was pierced with the yelp of one of them, alongside a wet thud.

Sam could then hear what seemed to be speech; it didn’t sound entirely human, but at the same time it couldn’t have been one of the monsters. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to stick around to find out.

Unfortunately, fate seemed to conspire against him; He only took a few steps before the crunching of broken glass was heard under his feet.

In a futile effort to conceal himself once more, Sam covered his mouth and nose to muffle any noises. He then listened as a pair of feet approached.

During this moment, Sam wished he’d brought the Dwarf with him after all.

…

Evidently, Yoba’s sense of smell hadn’t been deceiving him, and neither was his hearing. As he licked the slimy, crushed viscera off of his hand, he stepped forward to the intruder’s hiding place.

In honesty, anything would be a welcome change from dealing with the ‘filthy creatures’ as he’d described them.

“<You are either quite brave, or quite stupid, to seek out the presence of a deity,>” he said between licks, while also smearing the Shadow Monster’s entrails against his face.

No answer. Yoba wasn’t sure whether the intruder was snubbing him intentionally, or just wasn’t all that smart in the ways of etiquette in the presence of a superior being.

“<I will let you know now, mortal, I do not appreciate being ignored. Especially not by a **_disgusting_ ** , **_lowly_ ** human.>”

Still no response came. This time, however, Yoba could hear the heavy breathing of someone in panic. He then tilted his head, now certain he knew why he wasn’t being spoken to. To his chagrin and reluctance, he growled and spoke again. As he did, he could hear his vessel’s original voice seep in.

“Why do you not answer me?” He inquired in English, now beginning to get truly annoyed. “Why do you make me resort to using this **_ugly_ ** and **_primitive_ ** dialect of the humans?”

This time, an answer. It was but a strangled noise that moved along with its source, but still an answer.

…

It was strange to hear Sebastian’s voice now, after going so long without hearing it. More so with it morphed into that of Yoba’s. It seemed as if Sebastian was trying to retake control of his own body, but Yoba wouldn’t let him.

But out of fear for both Sebastian’s life, and his own, Sam came out from his hiding spot. Once he faced him, eyes wide, causing Yoba to give him an amused smirk.

“I see…How foolish of me, to think you were one of those who spoke the true language.” He wiped the mess off his face with the back of his hand, then brushed it off on what remained of Sebastian’s pants. Then he stepped forward, seemingly unaffected by the sharp glass beneath his feet.

Sam was too frightened to move now. He held up both of his hands, frantically looking on both sides of himself for a way out. He then tried to think of something to stop the advancing deity.

“You know you’re controlling my best pal there, right?” Right away, he regretted saying something that stupid. Yoba didn’t seem to listen anyway.

When Yoba was close enough to cup his chin in his hand, Sam could feel his sharp nails making scratches on his face.

“To think, you are alive to see humanity be punished by its creator. And do not believe that you are to be spared.”

Yoba pulled his hand away.

“Before that, however...It seems that it would be best to show you what you and all of humanity have done. So that you will truly understand that which you will die for.”

When he looked at him, Sam could’ve sworn that there was a powerful sense of disappointment about Yoba’s mannerisms, along with a great sadness.

Managing to finally will himself to move, Sam reached out his hand. Yoba was all too happy to grab hold of it.

“Close your eyes,” Yoba told Sam in a gentle, yet insistent voice. When Sam didn’t do so right away, Yoba reached out and covered them with his free hand.


	33. Yoba's Call

All those in the tower were awakened by the Dwarf making loud and rapid chittering noises. They were also woken up by seeing him jumping in place on a stack of books. 

“Wow,” Abigail uttered as she rubbed her eyes. “With that thing, you don’t need an alarm, do you?” 

With everyone showing at least a mild degree of irritation at all the noise, the Dwarf jumped down and skittered over to them. He then grabbed hold of Vincent’s hand, and pulled on it. 

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Vincent was answered with a frantic, “Sam! Sam!” and the Dwarf pointing towards the front door. 

Jodi looked terrified. “What are you trying to say? Did something happen to Sam?” As she waited for her own answer, Rasmodius looked about the room frantically, before he grit his teeth and furrowed his brows. 

“That fool! Going out alone while Yoba is out there is tantamount to a death wish!” He shouted loud enough to startle everybody else, before stomping quickly out of the tower. 

…

When Sam was able to see again, everything around him had changed drastically. Instead of standing in the ruins of Jojamart, he was in a place surrounded by light. 

There was light as far as he could see, presented in a rich golden color reminiscent of the morning sun. 

“Whoa…” Sam was so entranced by it all, he didn’t immediately notice Yoba standing farther away now, looking in the opposite direction. 

He also didn’t notice his sudden change in attire, until he tried to walk forward. Upon noticing his nakedness, he yelped in surprise and tried to cover himself. Said yelping caught Yoba’s attention, who looked to be at least slightly annoyed. 

“There is no need to hide yourself, human,” he said as he turned back and began walking. “Your kind are not here.” 

As he got closer, Sam noticed that Yoba looked to be unscathed now, not a scratch or weeping blister in sight. He also noticed something a lot less appropriate to point out. 

“Good thing, too; I wouldn’t want to explain to them that this isn’t the first time I’ve been naked together with Sebastian. Or, well, you know…You’re not really Sebastian, you’re just controlling him, uh…” 

He turned away now and scratched the back of his head, having made this whole thing awkward. In an effort to dispel the awkwardness, he tried to change the subject. 

“So where is this anyway?” To answer him, Yoba stopped and stared off into the unending expanse of light. 

“This, human,” he told him, “is where it all began.” Yoba then stretched his arms out and forward, and closed his eyes. “You have only read and heard of the stories. Now? Now you will witness it firsthand.” 

…

Outside, now that Demetrius and Maru had gone back to bed, Marlon and Robin were sitting quietly, still unable to properly register what had been said and known. 

“My boy…My sweet boy…” Robin murmured to herself. “It’s just not possible.” 

“I’m afraid it is, Robby,” Marlon said, patting her on the shoulder. “I know what I saw with this good eye of mine. I only wish I saw someone else.” 

Then he tried changing the subject. “By any chance are you and yours going to stay at the guild house with me? An old man like me would sure appreciate the company now that Gil’s beyond the mortal coil.” 

Robin just gave him a sad smile, after a brief consideration. “As much as I would like that, Marlon, I don’t think there’d be enough room for all of us in there with you. But if you were to help us find a place to live for a while, that’d be great.”


	34. I See The Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look it's a surprisingly long chapter (for me anyway)

Sam had always been taught that it was rude to stare. But this time, he couldn’t help it. What was unfolding before him was just that magnificent.

“Long ago, well before the existence of life,” Yoba began, in a voice radiating calmness, “this was all that there was.” As he spoke, Sam could’ve sworn there was also a feeling of pride mixed in there.

“Eventually,” Yoba went on, “all came together with a call.”

His eyes opened again, pulling his arms back and setting his hands to his chest, balling them into fists. Sam took a closer look, not wanting to miss any of this.

Slowly, Yoba raised his head, then parted his lips. The voice that emanated from him sounded not just like Sebastian and himself, but rather like all voices in existence coming together. The way he said it was also pretty impressive:

“ **_Yoba_ **!” Sam was almost caught off guard by how loud that had been, alongside its powerful echoing.

He was then actually caught off guard by a sudden rumbling, not unlike what he’d been experiencing back in the real world, along with Yoba reaching his arms back out. He also put his palms out as though trying to stop something from coming closer.

“Whoa…” Was all Sam could really say, remaining where he was for fear he’d just get knocked back down again. A great blast of wind came blowing from behind him, forming into a shining vortex before his eyes. Around them both, the light came together into it as well.

Sometime after, Yoba pulled his hands back once more. This time, he snapped his fingers, causing the vortex to dispel. All that was left behind was a seed.

…

Willy had been asleep up in his loft when he heard a knocking on the door from downstairs. To his irritation, he pulled his boots on and climbed down to the ground floor.

“Just another problem to add on to all this, I’ll bet,” he muttered as he tried rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Then the knocking came again.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Can’t whoever ye are have some patience for an old salt in need of sleep?”

Still squinting when he opened the door, Willy could make out the guild master and the town carpenter standing before him.

“Well, now what is it what brought the two of ye to my doorstep at this hour?”

Marlon patted his hand onto Robin’s shoulder, trying to remain civil. “This lovely lady here needs a place for her and hers to stay for a while. Is it too much of an issue for her to stay at…?” He gestured to Elliott’s cabin. Looking over them both, Willy shook his head and turned to look for a set of keys he owned.

“Ain’t no issue,” he answered them as he dug in a nearby drawer. “Not like Elliott’s gonna need it anymore.”

Upon finding the key to the cabin, which Elliott had given him in case of emergencies, Willy handed it right to Robin.

“Thanks, Willy,” she told him. “If you ever need anything fixed around here, leaky roof, rotting deck-”

Willy just waved her off. “No need. All I do ask is that you pay some respects to Elliott while you’re there. I’m bettin’ it’ll make him happy in wherever afterlife he’s gone to.”

The three then said their farewells, and Marlon and Robin left to go back to the guild house to get Demetrius and Maru.

…

Sam was rather wide-eyed when he pulled himself back to his feet, seeing what Yoba was now holding in his hands.

“That was so cool!” He said in awe while pointing at the unique looking seed. “How’d you do that?”

Yoba didn’t answer him. Instead, he stepped forward a little bit and lifted an arm up, clutching the seed tightly as he did. The light that had been swirled into the earlier vortex now hung in a shimmering cloud above the forming ground beneath them.

Then, in a move that Sam almost didn’t catch in time, Yoba took the seed, and threw it up high into the air; not even craning his neck upward as high as possible could let Sam see the distance it’d gone to.

His attention snapped back to Yoba once he saw what he was doing now.

…

All the others back at the wizard’s tower were still having a hard time making sense of what just happened. Linus was the first to snap out of it.

“I’m hoping that Rasmodius won’t end up in more danger,” he said to everyone as he approached Krobus. “If he’s found by Yoba again, I don’t believe he’ll be so lucky next time.”

Then he turned to everyone, hefting Krobus up and holding him carefully. “It seems once more we must leave the tower-”

He didn’t get to finish before everyone started groaning in frustration. Abigail in particular rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Thanks a lot, Sam,” she muttered under her voice. She was then distracted by the Dwarf running over to Jodi.

“Huh…?” Jodi looked down to see the Dwarf pulling at her skirt, then raising his arms up while jumping a little. It was clear what he wanted; Jodi was all too happy to oblige when she picked him up and held him in her arms. This apparently caused a bit of jealousy in her younger son.

“Awww…” He then got her attention himself. “Can I ride on your back, Mommy?” Jodi smiled and nodded, before bending down with her knees enough for him to climb on, then stood back up.

Everyone was ready to go and catch up to Rasmodius, but Abigail’s parents stayed behind for a little bit.

“When we said our wedding vows all those years ago,” Pierre muttered to Caroline, “I didn’t expect the ‘til death do us part’ bit to possibly involve ‘earth deity antics’.”

“I think that’s covered in the ‘for better or for worse’ part, dear,” Caroline answered him, to which Pierre made a face that meant ‘that is true’.

The two then walked out of the tower, before breaking into a run to catch up with the others.

…

After walking into the golden mist, Yoba lifted his arms above his head. Ever the watchful spectator, Sam tilted his head.

“I don’t really remember the wizard guy telling us this part about the whole creation thing,” he pointed out. Again, Yoba did not answer him.

Instead, Yoba lowered his head before closing his eyes, and lifting up one of his legs. He then abruptly snapped into motion, spinning in place a few times before stepping to the side. He kept his raised leg up, using it to make a sweeping motion.

“Okay, this part I _really_ don’t remember,” Sam commented. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t entranced by the graceful movements before him.

He also noticed that the light was being manipulated by Yoba’s dancing motions; Whenever he directed his hands to the ground, or kept his feet moving just above it, the light followed, being smoothed down beneath him. This went on, with Yoba forcing the golden mist underneath him, all while dancing about like some kind of majestic ballerina.

And not once did Yoba open his eyes as he did all this.

Sam did also think it was admittedly weird to see him doing this in Sebastian’s body; Sebastian himself was never really one to do this sort of thing. Nevertheless, it was still quite a show.

He nearly voiced his disappointment when Yoba ended his dance, all of the golden light now smoothed down under his feet.

Yoba then opened his eyes, and looked skyward. He reached a clawed hand up above them both, and caught the now falling seed into it.

“So what are you gonna do with that?” Sam probably should’ve realized that was a stupid question the second he asked it. He was still curious though.

Yoba looked at him now, and motioned for him to come closer. He then bent down to the golden soil, and placed the seed in before covering it. Then, he held one of his hands over the freshly created mound of dirt, pressing the sharp nails of his other hand into his palm.

Once he’d made the swift downward motion that drew blood, Sam flinched. He tried not to look away as Yoba’s palm hovered over where the seed was, dripping his blood onto it.

As soon as Yoba pulled his hand away, Sam could see a little green sprout poke out from the dirt.

Then, once again, he was shocked back to a sitting motion as he watched that little sprout emerge forth into a massive vine, one that formed by twisting all the way up into the sky.


	35. In The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep going back to shorter chapters. 
> 
> I didn't know how else to end and also I was itching to update with something and okay I'll shut up now...

Sam waited for Yoba to make a move again, having not done so since the vine had burst forth from the dirt. To try and not make things weirder than they already were, he kept alternating between looking at Yoba, and looking up to see if he could see the top of the vine. As he did, he could feel himself cooling down a bit thanks to the moving shadow the vine cast over them.

“So...what now? Did you climb that?” He asked and pointed upward. “Like, you found the giant in the castle and something?”

Yoba placed his still bleeding palm onto the enormous plant, and shook his head. He too looked skyward, as though he were waiting for something.

“I waited for eleven days.” He then proceeded to smear blood on the bottom of the vine. “The entire time, I watched. Not once did I look away.

“Finally, after the eleventh day…” He trailed off, as the vine suddenly began to tilt and creak, actually reaching the ground. Sam took a few quick steps back, in case he were about to get crushed.

His fears were unfounded, though, thankfully. What he did see was numerous fruits beginning to appear; every kind he could think of, and even some he’d never seen before, showed up on some long tendrils now hanging from the giant vine.

In a strangely casual manner, Yoba strode over to one particular bunch of leafy tendrils. Carefully, he pulled one out from beneath the leaves, and came back to where Sam was. It was large, and looked vaguely like some kind of strawberry. 

Before he could say anything about it, though, Yoba pressed two of his fingernails against the skin, and pricked it. He then slid them down, cutting a straight line. Sam just watched, wide-eyed.

When Sam reached a hand toward the now opened fruit, Yoba stepped away. He took his fingers again, and scraped out some of the inside to reach the seed within. He then held up the seed, looking intently at its unusual appearance.

Yoba then reached over and covered Sam’s eyes again. Sam himself cringed at the feeling of the still drying blood getting smeared onto his eyelids.

…

Once he felt the pressure of Yoba’s hand pull away, Sam carefully opened his eyes to see a completely new area; instead of being outside, now the two were in some kind of temple, lit by a combination of torches and gold braziers. Around them, lining the walls, were large tables all holding something, being covered by various shrouds. One sat in front of them, looking smaller and far more ornate than the others.

Looking back over, Sam now saw Yoba holding something else in his hands; he thought it was some kind of dagger at first, but then quickly corrected himself. Another more attentive glance revealed several much larger versions of it in the large stone room with them.

“Hey, isn’t that the thing people use when they worship you?” He asked while pointing at it.

Yoba took a glance down at it, and slowly nodded. “The vessel; the very symbol that was used to bring forth the human race by my hand.”

He went silent once again, stepping forward to carefully place his symbol onto the ornate table. Then, he turned back with a sort of flourish, and walked to the center of the room. Sam just had a feeling that he was going to get to see more dancing.

When Yoba was in the exact center, he turned to face his symbol again; this time, he stretched his hands out with his palms forward, as he closed his eyes and bowed his head.

More golden light appeared, albeit in a slowly growing manner. Sam tried to stand out of the way between Yoba and the vessel as this happened. While he waited for something to happen, his sight briefly drifted back to the other tables.

He then quickly looked back when he heard some kind of cracking sound.


	36. But the Earth Refused to Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A story is told, an offer is made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I did name this chapter after an Undertale song fight me

A powerful blast of wind, much like the ones that plagued the valley back in the present day, accompanied the loud cracking sound that Sam had heard. In an instant, the wind had blown out all the torches and braziers. Now, only the shimmering light, along with Yoba’s glowing eyes, could be seen in the darkness.

Sam bit his lip in an effort to keep his sudden fear from being known. He then placed a hand over his mouth, as an extra safety measure.

Just like before, despite the lack of truly visible features, Yoba began to move about. This time, the light remained about his hands, not settling to the stone floor beneath them once.

Yoba then appeared to divide the light into segments. Each segment ended up weaving back upon his fingers, like a series of golden threads. Once his fingers were bound in the light, he stretched his arms to his sides, bending them at the elbow.

Just before Sam was about to ask what he was doing now, Yoba snapped his head back; his eyes now appeared to be blazing. His mouth dropped open, leading him to speak words that Sam didn’t understand, presumably the ‘true language’ he’d mentioned earlier.

While he spoke, Sam looked back at some of the shrouded tables. Beneath the shrouds, something was moving. He didn’t dare walk over to see what it was, though.

After what felt like an eternity of Yoba speaking, he ended his speech with a loud clap of his hands. In turn, the light about his hands disappeared when they met. In turn, the torches and braziers came alight once more, as though by magic.

Then, silence.

Yoba remained still for a few moments. Then he pulled his hands apart and approached his designated table again. Carefully, he removed the idol that he’d put there, running his fingers over it.

When he turned back, Sam watched as all the shrouds upon their tables were cast aside. Under them all were actually humans, confused by their sudden existence.

“Huh…?” But Sam was cut off by Yoba stepping forward to greet the newly formed creatures. They were apparently quite curious as to who he was.

…

Now holding his idol to his chest, his fingers tightly curled over it, Yoba got a little closer before stopping. He cleared his throat before addressing the crowd.

“Greetings to you all,” he began, with his voice taking on a deep, almost rich tone. “I am he who has created you. You may address me as ‘Yoba’. I have brought forth you all for a very special purpose.”

None of the humans asked what this purpose was. Not that they needed to, anyway.

“You have all been made to care for the land I have created before you,” he went on, now walking towards the other side of the temple. “The land that awaits beyond this temple, it will be your home.”

Yoba pulled away one of his arms, and gestured toward the entrance behind him. All the humans now seemed to be paying more attention to what he was talking about. In order to hear him a little better, Sam took a few cautious steps toward them all.

“What I also ask of you all is this; go forth, and bring life. May you all have many children, and may they have many children. Never forget, however, to care for the land around you. You must make certain your descendants know of this, as well.”

He pulled his hand back, clutching his idol tightly with it again. His initially calm and peaceful expression, however, became stern and judgmental.

“ **_But be warned_ **!” He’d said it so loudly that Sam could feel the whole place shake. “If you do not do as I have asked, if you do not do what you have been created to do…”

He paused, calming down rather quickly, albeit still with a hardened expression. “I will take on the form of one of you, and enact my punishment upon you. I will return to take back the earth, should you poison it to the point of illness.”

All Sam could really do was listen on, trying to compare what Rasmodius had told them, and what was being said by Yoba himself. He had said it was just one of the translations of Yoba’s legend.

“When the earth trembles, it is my pain. When the fire consumes all, it is my wrath. When the wind howls, it is my screams. When the storm gathers and the rain falls, it is my tears. All that you inflict upon this land, I will inflict hundredfold upon you.”

Finally, Yoba bowed his head. “As I have given life to you all, now you must create life in the world before you. Now go, and do what I have asked of you.”

He went still once more, as the humans slowly left the temple, walking on either side of him. As soon as they were gone, he looked up again at Sam, and walked to him.

“So this was all what you wanted to show me?” Yoba shook his head. He held out the idol that he’d been keeping close to his chest, and offered it to Sam.

“The vessel,” he just said as he took one of his hands and closed it over the aforementioned vessel. “Do you know just how sacred and special it is to me?”

Sam wasn’t sure how to answer that, so he just shook his head. Yoba’s idol felt much lighter and warmer than he’d expected.

“As you have witnessed in the present day, the humans and their descendants did not do as I had told them. And to make it worse…”

The hand still holding onto Sam’s gripped it tightly, causing Sam to hiss in pain; Yoba’s nails sunk into his skin, causing it to draw blood.

“The ungrateful, disgusting creatures…” The way Yoba said this showed how clear his hatred shone through. “They think they are worthy to give praise to that which I represent? After the horrors and agony they put the land through?”

He let go, turning off to the side. “For them to believe that is so, it is a mockery to all that I am! Showing feeble attempts to worship my glory, with cheap, inferior imitations of my symbol! I find it all blasphemous, and insulting…”

Now Sam could hear Yoba’s voice beginning to crack. He still held onto Yoba’s idol as he watched his entire body shake with emotion.

“All of them, wretched and unclean. That is why…” He turned back to look at Sam again, still trembling.

“That is why I must start anew. The human race as it is, I must annihilate it.”

Hearing the word ‘annihilate’ made the color in Sam’s face drain; still, he kept his mouth shut, and let Yoba continue talking.

“All humans, I must destroy, and cleanse the dying earth of their influence. And even then, I will have to end the land’s misery. I must do all this, and begin again.”

Now that Sam finally found the words he’d been seeking, he choked them out in a hurry. “But how come?! Isn’t there any way to fix things without destroying it?!”

Yoba stopped, and looked directly at him. He then strode back over and raised his hand to put it over Sam’s eyes again.

“I am afraid that there is not.” He pressed his fingers over Sam’s eyes, bringing him back to the present day. “However…”

Now, Yoba offered his hand out to Sam, after pulling it away from his face. “I may need assistance in bringing forth the new world, and its caregivers.

“What I am saying is, in exchange for sparing your life, you will be my messenger; you will go forth, and teach the next race of humans the mistakes of those before them. Will you do this?”

All that Sam could really do was stare down at Yoba’s hand, waiting to be taken. His mouth hung open, his lips dry. The situations that swirled about his head were staggering.

On one hand, Sam would be saving his own life, in exchange for that of his loved ones. On the other, he could possibly be able to always get to see his best friend, even if it wasn’t truly him anymore.

Had it actually been Sebastian himself offering this, Sam wouldn’t have hesitated. Reluctantly, after giving it much time to think it over, he reached up his now shaking hands to grab hold of Yoba’s own.

Just as he was about to do this, however, the two were interrupted by something whizzing past them both, causing an impact on the wall next to them. 


	37. Doing the Splits

The magic-induced crater that landed in between Sam and Yoba was still smoldering when Rasmodius stepped forward. The look on his face was a mix of amusement and displeasure. 

“Unbelievable,” he said while readying another magic attack with his good arm. “One sob story, and you consider turning traitor against us in favor of a vengeful earth deity.

“Though I suppose I should commend you instead, for distracting Yoba long enough for me and everyone else to arrive.”

Sam looked behind him, seeing that indeed, the others had come with. His eyes grew wide, wondering if any of them were thinking the same thing as Rasmodius was.

As for Yoba, he too stared at them all, before he slowly turned his head to look at Sam again. As he did, his face went from shock to anger.

“You,” he growled. “You planned this.” Here he pointed to everyone, as he started walking toward Sam. Sam just put his hands up and stepped backwards, shaking his head. The others were now frozen in fear, as much at a loss as Sam himself was.

“I didn’t know they were coming, I swear!” He was becoming increasingly frantic now. “I came here by myself! Last time I saw them, they were all back at the wizard’s tower-”

“ **_Liar_ **!” The way that Yoba twisted Sebastian’s face as he shouted this accusation looked grotesque, even animalistic.

This expression changed into a terrifying sneer as he lunged forward, and started backhanding Sam repeatedly. The amount of force delivered with each blow was enough to cause bleeding, and at least one loose tooth.

“Somebody do something!” Abigail cried out amongst the cries of despair and shock, but not before Yoba landed a well-aimed punch into Sam’s abdomen, taking the wind right out of him.

All Sam could do now was make some form of loud choking noise, indicating how excruciating the pain he was now in was.

The last thing he heard before losing consciousness was his family, Abigail, and the Dwarf all calling out his name.

…

“I wonder if I’ll be able to keep doing carpentry with the wood around the beach,” Robin murmured to herself as she and Marlon were en route back to the guild house.

Marlon snorted in amusement. “Of course you can, Robby. You’re the gal who made a crib all by herself while seven and a half months pregnant.”

“That was because it was necessary. I wasn’t going to have Sebastian sleeping on the floor of an unfinished house after he was born, was I?”

“No, I suppose not. But I know you’re capable of keeping your carpentry going, no matter what-”

Both of them then went quiet when they arrived in town, suddenly hearing some sort of ruckus off to the other side. From the looks of things, the remaining townsfolk heard it, too.

“What the…” Robin quickly dashed towards the now ruined Jojamart, with Marlon struggling to keep up with her.

They and the other townsfolk barely reached the place when a huge blaze erupted out of nowhere.

…

Rasmodius could only glare at Yoba now, as the two were separated by a wall of flames. It was clear that Yoba still wasn’t going to let him get the upper hand.

Over one of Yoba’s shoulders, Sam was draped like some kind of towel. He wasn’t moving; he didn’t even seem to be breathing. This sight was getting to be too much for Abigail.

“Let him go, you freak!” She cried out. She didn’t care that it was the body of her friend Sebastian that stood before her. From what the wizard had said earlier, Sebastian as she knew him was gone.

Abigail was about to shout something else when Rasmodius stopped her, and shook his head.

“There is no need to provoke him further, girl,” he said while trying to stay calm. Then, he looked back at Yoba. With a stoic demeanor, Yoba merely looked at him.

“<If, for some unforeseen reason, you want to save him,>” he muttered to Rasmodius after switching to his original language, “<then you know where to find me. But know that your actions will prove futile in the end.>” He then dispelled the fire that had surrounded everyone.

And like that, Yoba took his free hand, and pressed his nails over his chest. Almost immediately after he did this, he raked them down his torso, with him managing not to howl in agony the whole time he did so. He looked the wizard right in the eyes the entire time.

The moment Rasmodius realized why he was doing this, his eyes widened. He quickly turned and directed the others to get away.

“Unless you want the last thing you ever see is your loved ones being crushed by metal and rock, I suggest you all **_move it_ **!” The group, along with the rest of the gawking townsfolk, couldn’t seem to comply quickly enough.

Everyone barely got back to the main part of town before the earthquake hit; this one topped all the others that came before it. The townsfolk could only watch as the earth began to actually split apart, separating one side from the other.

Yoba was already long gone. 


	38. What Lies Beyond the Wall

The sound of his bare feet against the crystalline floor had alerted the monsters. All of them scrambled about once they heard it, not wishing to be subjected to their master’s unpredictable wrath.

As they moved about and took on kneeling poses, the figure of Yoba became ever closer. This time, from the looks of things, he wasn’t alone; several of them almost stood up when they smelled a human, but were quickly subdued. 

Yoba appeared, still carrying an unconscious Sam over his shoulder. He looked at both lines of various monsters, before setting his eyes on one of the nearby Shadow Shamans. The Shadow itself was surprised to see him come and stand before it.

“<Master Yoba!>” It cried out,

“<Get up,>” he said to it, waiting until it complied. “<Have you found the entrance?>”

The Shadow Shaman, on trembling legs, nodded twice. “<Yes, Master Yoba. Right this way…>”

All the other monsters remained still as Yoba and the Shadow walked between them, the ones with eyes watching intently.

“<It is here, Master,>” The Shadow Monster told him, gesturing to a part of the wall. “<Here is where the entrance lies.>”

“<Thank you.>” Yoba turned to address the rest of the monsters, now. “<The human I have brought with me must not be further harmed. If any of you so much as scratch him, there will be severe consequences.>”

When he turned his back to them once more, Yoba readied himself and formed a fist with his free hand. He then quickly drew back and punched the crystal wall before him, shattering it to pieces. Once the entrance was revealed to him, he calmly stepped in to a familiar, if now much colder location.

…

What Robin saw had been so unexpected, and unbelievable, that she nearly fell to the ground. Only Marlon holding her up kept her from doing it, although he almost dragged him down with her.

“Marlon, you were right…” She bit her fingernails in a cold, heavy dread. “That was Sebastian, wasn’t it?”

Cringing, Marlon helped her back up to her feet. “Yes and no. Like I said, something’s gotten a hold of him."

Robin didn’t respond to him directly. She just kept staring at the charred remains of what was Jojamart.

“Oh, my poor little boy,” She whispered to himself, with her voice close to breaking. She was then caught off guard by a sudden argument erupting nearby.

All Marlon and Robin had to do was look over to see it happening.

…

 

“Did you drop that boy on his head as a child?!” Rasmodius shouted at Jodi. “He nearly betrayed us all by joining with Yoba!” Jodi held herself up as straight as possible, an irritated look on her face, until he finished ranting at her.

“Why are you mad at me?!” She cried back to him. “How was I supposed to know what he was doing? I got there the same time you did!

“And last I checked, if you hadn’t tried to attack them, maybe he wouldn’t have been beaten up as badly as he was! And now he’s been kidnapped!”

The both of them went back and forth, trading barbs with each other. It was making the other townsfolk very uncomfortable. It got to the point where someone had to intervene.

“Alright, you two, settle down!” Mayor Lewis was heard as he put his hands between them, and gently pushed them apart. “I’ve barely a clue towards what’s been happening lately, but it won’t be resolved by you bickering like children.”

Jodi and Rasmodius glared at each other for a little longer, before backing off. Rasmodius went to stand with one half of the group, and Jodi with the other.

“Why don’t you and your little friend go play with Jas, sweetie?” She said to Vincent as she set the Dwarf back onto the ground. “The adults all need to talk about what’s been going on, and I think she’d appreciate it..”

Vincent nodded fervently, and he and the Dwarf ran off to find her. Jodi then looked back to the Mayor.

“I suppose we should actually let everyone else in town know what’s been going on…”


	39. Yoba's Intent

Robin didn’t stay long enough to get the full story from Jodi. She’d only managed to hear about half of it before she had to stop and leave. Marlon didn’t try to stop her.

He did try to keep up with her as best he could on his bad leg.

“Now Robby,” he called after her. “Don’t you do anything rash.”

“I won’t,” she told him without looking back at him. “But I do need to get back to Demetrius and Maru. I don’t need them to be taken over by some angry deity as well!”

Neither of them could bear to look at the charred wreckage that used to be Robin’s house as they passed it.

…

_“Sam…”_

_The voice he’d heard was well-known to him. What Sam didn’t expect was for it to ever address him by his name again. Opening his eyes, trying to shield them from any light, he sat up and looked about._

_He heard it again: “Sam!”_

_Sam narrowed his eyes, trying to make sense of what happened before he got here. When he tried to stand up, a horrific pain overtook him._

_“Ow, ow, ow…” He whimpered as he tried not to fall back down, wrapping his arms around his torso. His eyes kept darting about until he caught sight of who it was calling to him. Off in the distance was where he could see him._

_“And here I thought you were a morning person, Sam.”_

_With the pain shooting throughout his entire body now, Sam took a few tentative steps forward. Apparently seeing the immense agony he was in, the other bridged the rest of the distance between them._

_“Don’t hurt yourself. I’m not going anywhere. At least, not right now…”_

_…_

Once Jodi had told the entire story as best she could, with the occasional unwanted help from Rasmodius, Mayor Lewis and the rest of the townsfolk were silent.

Waiting for Lewis to stop rubbing the bridge of his nose took forever. When he did, he looked just a bit perturbed.

“So let me see if I understand this correctly,” he said. “All of this environmental hullabaloo is being caused by Yoba himself?”

Behind him, Shane let out a not-so-discreet snort. Everyone turned to look at him, to see what was apparently so funny.

“Joke’s on all of you. I don’t believe in Yoba.” He then stared at one of his hands, possibly wishing he’d had some kind of beer in it right now.

“Well then,” Rasmodius cut in. “What would you attribute these disasters to?”

“I dunno,” Shane answered while shrugging. “Global warming?”

…

Despite his once glorious temple now being underground ruins, Yoba was still pleased to be where he wanted to be. The shimmering crystals that now lined the walls and ceiling gave an admittedly impressive atmosphere.

Nearby, next to the still relatively intact altar, Sam lay in an unconscious heap. Yoba was aware that he wasn’t going to be too happy when he regained consciousness. But for now, he would wait.

Going off to one side of the ruins, Yoba lay a hand on one of the partially crumbled tables. Although much of it was gone, like with most of the others, he could still use it for its original purpose. 

“The Sacred Temple of Yoba,” he said to himself, as he turned to look at the rest of it all. “The place where Humanity began…”

Now, he walked to the center of the room, looking downward at the ground before his feet. Then, he looked to Sam; finally, he gazed upon his altar. “...And where it will begin again.” 

Suddenly, Yoba gasped and fell to his knees, a fresh spasm of pain overtaking him. As always, the earth proceeded to shake accordingly to his physical torment. This didn’t go unnoticed by the monsters in the other room.

“<Master Yoba!>” A few of them cried out as they ran in to attend to him. He didn’t seem to acknowledge them.


	40. Get It While It's Hot

It was entirely unexpected for what accompanied the tremors this time, even for anyone in tune with nature. And of course, most of the remaining townsfolk were certainly not that.

But they all knew what was coming, going by the immense heat that surged into the air. The deafening yet muted roar of approaching magma was a pretty good indicator as well. At least they were all given a little time before the first wave hit.

With widened eyes, Rasmodius looked in the direction he could feel the shaking from. He felt a hand clap him on the shoulder, getting his attention.

“I don’t suppose I need to say anything at this point, my friend?” Linus said to him, to which Rasmodius shook his head.

“No, it is obvious that we should all…” But the wizard was cut off by someone saying the last word for him.

“Run!” Jodi’s voice rang out to all the others. All of them did their best to obey her, clambering about to any kind of safety.

…

 _“That you, Seb?” Sam wasn’t really sure where he was, let alone if he were already dead. The only thing he really_ **_was_ ** _sure about, was who stood before him now._

_Sebastian let out a snort, before rolling his eyes. “You know anyone else in town with a hairstyle like mine?”_

_He got serious again. “Sam...You got caught up in all this, and I…”_

_But Sam kept him from talking any further, by gritting his teeth and running over to hug him. He could feel himself shaking, and felt a few tears run down his face._

_“Shut up, man! I don’t care what I got caught up in!” He buried his face into the crook of Sebastian’s neck. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”_

_There was a pause, before Sebastian quietly answered what wasn’t really a question:_

_“But I’m not, Sam. I’m not alright...”_

_…_

“Maru! Demetrius! Get out of there, quick!”

Demetrius and his daughter were woken up by a combination of rumbling, and Robin screaming at them from outside the building. Neither of them really had time to shake themselves awake before doing what she said.

Outside, Robin now waited with bated breath. Marlon draped his good arm over her shoulders, for good measure. He wanted to go in and drag them out himself, but he didn’t want to leave Robin alone, either.

In an effort to get them both out alive, Maru grabbed her father’s hand, and tugged on it. Even though she herself wasn’t completely lucid yet, she was rapidly becoming aware of the gravity of the scenario.

“Come on, Dad! Wake up!” Both of them stumbled over the debris that was scattered about the floor; in the nick of time, father and daughter escaped the building right before it was engulfed into the earth.

Maru and Demetrius practically fell onto the ground once they crossed their way past and reached Robin and Marlon. Then, all of them were embracing for a moment, before resuming their escape.

 

…

 

“<Master Yoba, please stay with us!>” The monsters were begging of their deity, who’d began to truly show pain.

Yoba himself could barely hear them, falling onto all fours and starting to make choking noises. He was taking heaving breaths as the cavern shook all around him.

The struggle to calm himself was made futile as he then vomited up a copious amount of blood, frightening the monsters surrounding him. As Yoba lifted his head, and reached out toward Sam and the altar, streams of more blood were trailing down his face.

Then came the crystal walls cracking open, spurting out magma that started pooling at the edges of the cavern. By the time the tremors were showing signs of calming down, the heat in the air was unbearable.


	41. Liquid Fire

_The ambiguity of Sebastian’s words caused Sam to draw back and look at him in a very confused manner._

_“Not alright…? Seb, what are you talking about?”_

_Sebastian’s facial expression took on a very hurt manner, before dropping his head in what appeared to be shame._

_“This is probably going to take a while to explain, but…” He shook his head, as though attempting to get his thoughts a bit more organized._

_“Sam…” He looked back up at him. “I’m sure you’ve heard this several times by now, but...Obviously you know that Yoba’s taken me over as his ‘chosen vessel’.”_

_Sam just nodded, before he cut in. “I still can’t believe he made you do all that stuff, to be honest. I’m kind of wondering how he ended up getting into your head and forcing you to make him do all of that without your-”_

_But here, Sebastian held up a hand to quiet him. “That’s the thing, Sam. He didn’t force me to become his vessel.”_

_He put his hand back down, his expression unchanging as he stared at his pal’s wide eyes now._

_“I volunteered myself to be his container.”_

…

No matter where Robin and her loved ones ran to, there seemed no end to the tremors and threatening lava spills. But at least she could see many of the other townsfolk when they all caught up.

“Mom, why isn’t it stopping?!” Maru cried out over the roar of the crumbling earth. “It’s usually stopped by now!”

“I don’t know, honey!” Robin yelled before they all joined the other group

All around them, the catastrophe raged. Nobody had the time to acknowledge those returning before they all heard shouting from the other end of town.

“Our homes!” Someone could be heard crying out.

“This is _not_ happening!” Shouted another.

Sadly, the last few remaining houses in Pelican Town were now swallowed up by the earth, leaving it all to be destroyed by the coming lava stream.

Without anyone saying so, everyone ran to the beach in an effort to escape the approaching onslaught.

All anybody could do then was watch, as what was left of their little town was eradicated by a powerful wave of liquid flame.

…

_“What do you mean you volunteered, Seb?” Sam immediately realized how stupid that question probably was when he asked it._

_Sebastian looked away for a brief moment, then back at Sam. “This is going to take some explaining…”_

_He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Sam wasn’t sure if he really had to do that, though, or if it were just for an added effect._

_“I’m just going to try and level with you, Sam. Whether you believe it or not, Yoba isn’t evil. I’m sure you’ll find that hard to believe after what he did to you, but he isn’t.”_

_Sebastian looked away for a moment, then kept talking when Sam indicated he wasn’t going to say anything. “He’s doing all the awful things that he’s been doing because he’s hurt.”_

_“He’s hurt?” Sam raised an eyebrow. Again, he realized how stupid it was to say that._

_“Remember what he showed you, right? About how he created everything?” Sam nodded. “That’s why he’s in so much pain. He’s seeing one of his beloved creations destroy the other.”_

_Sam tilted his head, not sure whether or not he was really getting it now. “What’s that got to do with you deciding to be his container, though, or however you put it?”_

_“I guess you could say I felt bad for him, is one possible reason. He was watching everything he’d created with his own hands get torn apart._

_“Not only is that hurting him emotionally,” Sebastian said while looking Sam right in the eye, “it’s hurting him physically. You saw all the injuries and wounds on him, right?”_

_Again, Sam nodded. “Kind of awkward to see them since he’s in your body, though, so I’m looking at them on you.” He then scratched the back of his head, for no apparent reason._

_“Hold on a sec, though: If Yoba gets hurt or whatever along with the environment, and he destroys it, won’t he die along with it?”_

_Now, Sebastian’s already grim face became even more solemn. “It’s very likely, but chances are he’s in denial about it. I don’t want to find out, and I’m pretty sure you don’t, either. That’s why…”_

_Here, he clapped his hands onto Sam’s shoulders, and looked him right in the eyes._

_“Sam, you have to try and stop him; as much as Yoba’s suffering, there has to be a way to help him without any more destruction.”_

_There wasn’t anything Sam could think of to answer with this time._


	42. Fade to Black

Almost as quickly as it had begun, the lava began to cool, with a near magical speed. It cooled over the now completely destroyed land that had once been Pelican Town.

The townsfolk were all left stunned, and heartbroken. A couple of them had even collapsed in disbelief.

Slowly, Linus stepped forward to get a better look of the changed environment. He was about to take a step onto the resultant material, when a hand clapped onto his shoulder.

“Careful now, Linus,” Rasmodius said to him. Behind his legs, Krobus and the Dwarf were now tightly clutching each other.

Linus just grinned, and nodded once. He then turned back and approached the ground once more. Everyone else held their breath in anticipation.

Carefully, he pressed his foot against the dark material, and waited for the agonizing, blistering heat.

It didn't come, much to his surprise.

Behind him, Linus could hear Rasmodius and everybody else breathe a sigh of relief. 

As if to reassure the town further, he walked a few more steps. In turn, some of them followed onto what he now stood on.

…

“Astounding!” Demetrius declared as he and Robin approached a large stalagmite, and carefully touched it. “This is pure obsidian. I never realized there was sufficient magma capable of making this.”

“Maybe you ought to come with me on a spelunking sometime after this is all over, then,” Marlon told him as he and Maru came up behind him and Robin. “I’ve found many a hidden pocket of that stuff.”

A few feet away, Abigail and her parents were also inspecting the dark, translucent crystal, along with Jodi and Vincent.

“So...Anyone have a chisel and hammer or… something?” Pierre’s attempt at humor quickly fell flat, if his wife and daughter's reactions were any indication.

Abigail just looked all around her, dumbstruck and annoyed at the sudden mood change in the townsfolk.

“This really isn't getting Sam found,” she said to Rasmodius upon approaching him and tugging on his sleeve.  “And I don't think you got enough room in your tower for the whole town to stay in, anyway.”

Rasmodius looked irritated when pulling his arm away. “I am aware of that, girl. Please, do not rush me.”

He then stepped away from her, and cleared his throat loudly enough to get Jodi’s attention.

“By any chance will you continue to accompany us? After all,” he said to her, “It is _your_ son being held captive by Yoba, after all.”

Jodi scowled at him. “Of course I am! What kind of parent would I be if I didn't try to help my own child? I wouldn't expect you to know how that feels, though.”

Abigail simply frowned, and looked over at her parents while the other two adults started bickering again. They too were uncomfortable about all this.

…

The tremors had finally ceased, as did the havoc being wreaked upon his vessel.

Yoba now lay motionless on the ground, scaring the monsters around him immensely. One of them knelt down and took hold of him, gently shaking him by the shoulders.

“<Master Yoba!> It cried out to him. “<Please do not leave us! We cannot go on without a superior power guiding our way!>”

It kept shaking him, until a low groan of pain could be heard. Then it pulled back, watching as Yoba slowly and carefully pulled himself up onto all fours.

In their great joy, all the monsters were now singing praises, thankful their leader was still with them. Yoba ignored them, however, and looked around the room.

The walls, having originally been bare, now proudly displayed numerous chunks of obsidian, from pitch black to almost purplish in hue. Some of it was even on the ceiling and floor.

He then turned his attention to the part of it now behind his altar; this chunk of the dark glass spanned the entire wall, jutting out in the center.

Approaching it now, Yoba was then distracted by Sam’s still unconscious body, laying next to the altar like it had always been since they’d gotten here.

Yoba then picked Sam up, carrying him bridal style to one of the tables up against the wall. Carefully, he lay him down onto it, before quietly stepping back to his altar.

…

_“How am I supposed to stop him?!” Sam cried out to Sebastian, having waited a bit too long for any more to be said. “He’s an earth deity, and I’m...not.”_

_Sebastian looked away now, as if ashamed. “I don’t know how, but...I know there has to be_ **_some_ ** _way you can do it._

_“I’ve known you for a long time, Sam. I know you can think of something. Even a vengeful deity like Yoba has to have something that can get through to him.”_

_Now Sebastian stepped back, away from Sam. “Just anything that will at least calm him down. Just…”_

_He paused a bit. “At least try, okay? Even if it fails, and he ends up destroying the world anyway, you at least gave it your best shot.” Sam then watched as Sebastian stepped back away from him, and panicked._

_“Wait, you’re not coming with me? I mean, I get not physically, but…Seb, wait!”_

_“Goodbye, Sam,” Sebastian said to him as his vision gradually began to fade to white. “And good luck.”_


	43. Preparing for Action

After what seemed like forever, Jodi and Rasmodius finally stopped with their quarreling. Everyone around them kept staring, though, in case they started up again.

Once Rasmodius turned away from the other townsfolk, he crossed his arms to the others.

“Who else will continue to accompany me to the mines one last time?” For hopefully obvious reasons, Linus immediately stepped forward and took his place at his side.

“Anything for a true companion, my friend,” he told him.

This elicited a grin from the wizard, who then looked at the group again. “Anyone else?”

An awkward pause followed. Then, the Dwarf stepped forward, jumping and punching his fist upward before running over to Jodi for her to pick him up. After him came Abigail.

“Hey, my two best buddies are caught up in all this,” she gave as her reason. “I can’t not be involved.” Behind her, Krobus trailed while attempting to keep himself balanced on his feet.

Once those two were standing by Rasmodius’ side, Abigail put her hands on Krobus’ head, as if to reassure him. Then, she looked to her parents, waiting to see what they’d do. Caroline herself looked over to Pierre.

“Well? You feel the need to tag along this time?” She asked him.

Pierre glanced over at Abigail for a little bit, then down to Krobus, and he looked at everyone else going to the mines, before going up to Abigail again. Then, he looked over at his wife, and gave a little smile.

“You know what? I think she can take care of herself.” To Abigail, he then said, “just make sure you and your friends come back safe, all right?”

Now, Abigail smiled at Pierre. “I promise, Dad.”

Off to her side, Abigail then saw Jodi leading Vincent to her parents with one hand, her other arm holding the Dwarf close.

“Promise you’ll watch Vincent while we’re gone, okay?” She asked of Caroline and Pierre. Then, to Vincent, she knelt down and put her hand on his shoulder. “Mommy and her friend are going to go find Sam. Can you be good for Big Sister Abby’s parents until we return?”

Vincent nodded. “Yes, Mom.”

“Good.” Jodi got back up and dusted off her knees of any dirt, and rejoined the group. When she did, one last time, Rasmodius gazed upon the ones left, then turned to look at the other townsfolk.

“Are there any others who wish to join us? I must warn you that it may be perilous, and I cannot guarantee that there will be no ambushes from prowling monsters.”

No one else volunteered, or at least not at first. Then, stepping away from her husband and daughter, Robin walked forward.

“Take me with you,” she told them all in the most determined voice she could manage. “Jodi isn’t the only one whose child is wrapped up in all this.”

Her words stunned her family and Marlon, to say the least.

“Are you sure about this, dear?” Demetrius said to her.

“Yeah, Mom!” Maru piped up next. “Who’s to say you won’t end up dying down there?”

Robin looked over at them both. “I know it’ll be dangerous, like the wizard said. But…” Now she looked away, just focusing on her feet. “This may be the last chance I’ll get to see Sebastian in any way.”

She looked back up at them. “Possessed by Yoba or not, deep down, he is still my son. Even if I can’t reach him, I have to at least try!”

Neither Maru nor Demetrius could respond. Both of them felt as if nothing could change her mind anyway. Next to them, however, Marlon could be heard chuckling.

“A mother would do anything for her child. ain’t that right, Robby?” He approached her, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “If you’re going, I’m going, too.

“I’ve seen that boy grow up throughout the years I’ve lived in this here valley. I already lost my home. I sure ain’t gonna lose the closest thing I got to a grandson without some kind of fight.”

He then looked over at Demetrius and Maru. “If it puts your minds at ease, I’ll be doing my best to help her out.” Hearing him say this indeed helped the both of them calm a bit.

Rasmodius took one last look at everyone, and grinned. This didn’t go unnoticed.

“It seems you’ll have a good amount of help for this final venture, my friend,” Linus said to him. “Strength in numbers, after all.”

“Indeed,” Rasmodius answered him, sounding quite pleased. “Shall anyone else join us?”

All the other townsfolk just shook their heads, or said a quick ‘no’. They all figured the ones going would be good enough anyway. With that, the wizard looked back to all those joining him.

“Now then, we must begin preparations. There is no telling what Yoba can and will do at this point.”

He gestured for them to follow him to his tower, to start making aforementioned preparations. 


	44. Calm Before the Storm

It appeared the obsidian wave had reached far beyond the town itself. The group could see nothing but volcanic glass, as far as the eye could see. It were almost as if they had all been transported to a completely different realm. 

No one said a word the entire time they were reaching Rasmodius’ tower. The mood practically forbid anything to be said, considering what they were intent on doing. 

Robin and Marlon straggled behind, seeing all the others paired up with each other in some way as well. Robin kept her eyes mostly on the obsidianized scenery, seemingly looking back to her years of a carpenter, before directing her attention elsewhere. 

“Hey, Marlon,” she whispered to him. 

“Hm? Something on your mind, Robby?” 

With a little shrug, Robin looked over at him with a similarly small grin. “I guess I just wanted to tell you that…” 

She looked away briefly, trying to find the right words, before looking back at him. “No matter what happens to all of us, I just want to say thanks for being there for me and my family for all these years.” 

Marlon’s one good eye widened in surprise, before he returned her smile and nodded. 

“It’s my pleasure, Robby. Been there for a long while, and I hope to be there for at least a little longer.” 

He then wrapped an arm around Robin’s shoulders, patting her arm on the other side. The two remained quiet the rest of the way to the tower. 

…

Yoba stood in front of his altar, with his head bowed in deep contemplation, when he heard a few of the monsters behind him clamber for his attention. 

“<Master! Master!>” One of the skeletons called to him in its raspy voice. “<The Shamans have sensed the imminent presence of humans! What should be done?>”

Briefly looking over his shoulder at them all, Yoba turned his head back and closed his eyes. 

“<Let them come,>” he murmured, flattening his palm against the top of his altar. “<I want them to bear witness to the end of their world...>”

He flattened his other palm alongside the first one, staring intently at his sharp, pointed fingernails. “<And to the beginning of a new one.>”

Beneath Yoba’s hands, a light began to faintly glow. He curled his fingers inward, and pressed his forehead to the edge of the altar. 

…

The wizard’s tower was still an atrocious mess, as the group could see upon arriving. This didn’t stop Rasmodius from quickly rifling through his piles of trashed literature for something of use. Anything he deemed unusable, he flung off to the side. 

“Shouldn’t we help him?” Abigail asked of Linus.

Linus only shook his head. “He himself is unsure of what he is looking for. But he will know once he finds it."

Abigail just cringed, and looked over to the others; Krobus and the Dwarf were running in a circle, chasing each other. Jodi just sat on a stack of books and watched, giggling with amusement. Robin and Marlon were next to her, looking down at the floor. 

“Kind of sad how this all happened because of pollution.” Abigail followed Linus when he gestured for her to follow him to another place to sit. 

“I always had to listen to my dad talk about how much he hated Jojamart,” she went on. “The guy in charge of that place here was kind of a dick. Going by the current state of things, my dad’s feelings were pretty spot on, it looks like.” 

Then Abigail looked over at Linus, when he made an odd sound. 

“Indeed, your father’s feelings were justified,” Linus told her. “Far too long I have listened to nature weep from littering and defilement.

“And yet, I would never have imagined that it would come to this point; it has become severe enough to lead to the deaths of several townsfolk…”

Linus crossed his arms, sadly glancing between Rasmodius, and the others with them. 

“It may well lead to countless more, if nothing can be done. Yet...Would stopping Yoba truly be the best course of action?” 

As he spoke, Rasmodius paused in his search, as though listening in on Linus’ speech. It was very quiet for a moment before Linus chuckled rather mirthlessly. 

“I’m an old fool, to suggest that the death of this world could be a good thing.” Linus turned his attention now to the wizard. “Wouldn’t that be true, my friend?” 

Rasmodius said nothing, and merely continued with his search. 


	45. The Meaning of His Tears

It was to a world of hurt that Sam had returned to. He didn’t want to try and get up, for fear of making it worse. With as much strength as he could muster, however, he managed to sit up and look around. 

“Where am I now?” He croaked out. As he spoke, Sam could feel blood oozing out of his mouth, and down his chin. He looked down in front of him in horror. Quickly, he stuck a finger into his mouth to look for whatever injury caused it. 

He didn’t find it, and instead his finger slid over a piece of tooth, and then another. On impulse, Sam leaned over to the side and spat the shards of teeth out onto the ground. 

“Ewww…” He mumbled to himself, before turning back and seeing Yoba at his altar, in deep contemplation. Behind him stood the monsters who were unflinchingly loyal to their master. None of them seemed to notice that Sam was awake now. 

Before he could call out to him, Sam flinched when Yoba threw his head back, several streams of tears cascading from both his eyes. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. 

Stepping away from his altar now, Yoba turned his palms upwards towards his face, before bowing his head back down and crying into his palms. 

…

Outside, the weather had, once more, taken a turn for the bizarre. The group stopped everything that they were doing, and ran to the front door to look out upon the obsidian land.

“Now what’s happening?” Abigail asked when everyone was standing and watching. “Is it hailing? What does it mean if it’s hail?” 

Stunned at what she was describing, Rasmodius pushed to the front of the group, and took a better look. He made certain to choose his next words carefully. 

“ _ That _ is not hail, girl.” He reached out with his better arm and managed to catch a piece of what was falling to the earth. He then brought it to his face to get a better look. “I see…” 

Turning back to the others, he held it out to them to give them a closer look. 

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Marlon said as he leaned in to get a closer look. “That there’s a frozen tear. I usually found those in the mines once in a while. Legend says they’re a yeti’s tears.” 

“Ah…” Rasmodius said, putting a finger up to stop him from going further. “That legend, however, has been mistranslated. These are not the tears of a yeti.” 

He looked back outside. “I am sure you’ve already guessed by now, but these are the tears of Yoba.” 

“I thought that was what the rain was for,” Jodi piped up, with the Dwarf nodding vigorously after she said this. 

“These tears represent a different emotion,” Rasmodius corrected her. “The rain was to symbolize many powerful emotions: anger, frustration, disappointment…Emotions directed towards humanity for their actions in destroying the earth.” 

“And these?” Abigail pointed at it, before picking up Krobus to help him get a better look. 

The wizard stared down at the frozen tear, inspecting it. “These are symbolic of Yoba’s feelings toward his own, imminent actions. Despair, sadness, regret. It hurts him to destroy his own creation, regardless of what they’ve done. 

“This next part is simply a theory of mine,” Rasmodius went on, walking through the group to reach a nearby pile of thankfully mostly intact books. “But seeing these tears up close tells me that…” 

He cleared his throat, using his other hand to flip through the top book. “It tells me that time has started to truly run out. If we don’t reach the bottom of the mines soon, there will be no stopping Yoba.”

Then Rasmodius gave off a small grin. “And yet, believe it or not...this was what I was waiting for; that for which I had been searching among my tomes.

“As this contains immense power, due to its connection to Yoba, this will give me enough power to take all of us to the mines post-haste. All I need to know is when you all are ready to go.” 

Staring intently at the frozen tear, Robin felt an ache in her chest. It seemed to actually hurt her just to look at the small crystal. 

“Sebastian…” she whispered to herself. 


	46. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time.

“Why couldn’t you have just taken us to the mines in the first place,” Abigail inquired while watching Rasmodius prep some kind of shrine in his basement, “if you had this down here the whole time?”

Rasmodius scowled at her, while modifying his aforementioned shrine for a different purpose than changing appearance.

“I am not an endless wellspring of magic, girl,” he told her as he brought the frozen tear from earlier to the shrine. “Had I attempted to utilize this before now, with much of my power depleted, it would be guaranteed to end in failure, and perhaps even death.

“But now? With this stone, a source of power from Yoba himself? I am confident we will arrive at the bottom of the mines safely.”

Rasmodius held the frozen tear above a silver platter he’d set upon the shrine, then glanced at Abigail again.

“Now, bring the others down here. It is time.”

Quickly, Abigail went back up the ladder to do so. It actually took a little while to get everyone down and ready to go.

“Best you all step up close to me,” he told them all without breaking his focus. In a rather uncomfortable manner, all of them shifted closer to him.

Then Rasmodius began chanting, quickly rising in speed and intensity. He still caught everyone off guard when he suddenly gripped the crystal hard enough to shatter it into pieces.

Everyone watched as the pieces then cascaded from the wizard’s hand, into the platter. There was a moment’s delay, before the group was swallowed up in an opaque blue light.

…

A loud, unearthly sound rang out from the other room at the bottom of the mines. It brought an echo with enough power that it could actually physically be felt.

“Yoba!” The wizard’s voice could be heard after the shaking ceased. It caused Yoba to snap out of his reverie, and lift his head back up. “Your plan for this world ends now!”

His words sparked a definitely extreme reaction.

“<Master! Master!>” The creatures began to cry out, becoming restless. “<The humans have arrived!>”

The accumulated tears in his palms were splashed out onto the ground, when he curled them back up into fists.

“<Good. Now keep them at bay. I want them to see this, but I don’t want them to interfere.>”

In an instant, the monsters all clambered out to deal with the persistent threat.

…

“Here they come! Even with Robin’s declaration, everyone almost didn’t notice all the creatures coming at them.

Marlon, Rasmodius, and the Dwarf charged them right away; the others scurried behind them as best they could. In order to buy them a little time, Rasmodius set up a large shield to envelop them.

“Hey, Mister Marlon!” Abigail cried out. “You wouldn’t happen to have any other weapons I could use, would you?”

With a quick glance back at her, Marlon gave a quick nod and pulled out what looked like a long dagger from somewhere among his equipment. He then tossed it to her, with her grabbing it out of the air.

Linus watched as Abigail entered the fray, while also keeping an eye on the other three in case any monsters tried coming after them as well.

“How many of them are there?!” Jodi shouted. Indeed, it seemed that when one creature was slashed down, or blown up, two or three more took its place. She tried to run around the monsters, only to be grabbed by Linus.

“No, don’t! It’s too risky!” Linus paused, to allow the Dwarf’s latest explosion to pass. “Even if you were to bypass them, what could you do when you are before Yoba himself?”

Jodi frantically glanced at Robin and Krobus, and at the ones fighting off the monsters. She could see a jet of monster blood spurt in her direction, getting on her clothes, before directing her focus back to Linus.

“What am I supposed to do?!” Jodi tried to wrestle her wrist free from Linus’ grip. “My son is in there! I can’t just stand here and do nothing!”

She then looked toward the cave entrance, and cried out her son’s name.

…

“Sam!” Jodi’s voice rang out over the commotion, alerting him to her presence.

“Mom?!” Sam maneuvered to his feet, gritting his broken teeth at the pain. “Mom, what are you doing here?!”

She didn’t seem to have heard him. Nevertheless, he stumbled over to Yoba, doing all he could to keep a balance.

“Yoba, make them stop! My mom’s out there!” He grabbed a hold of Yoba’s forearm, only to be roughly smacked aside, back down to the floor. On his back, Sam looked up at Yoba’s displeased glare.

“Do not try to stop that which has begun,” he said to him. 

This wasn’t good enough for Sam, evidently. Again, he stood up and grabbed his forearm, with a harder grip this time. While he did, Sam could hear Abigail let out a war cry as she charged toward some golems.

“Come on! Just hear me out, all right?!” Yoba tried to shake him back off, to no avail. “You keep saying that there’s no hope for this world, but how do you know that for sure? Come on, at least listen to what I got to say!”

Sam felt tears coming to his eyes, as he pressed his face against Yoba’s wrist. His pleas didn’t appear to have moved him one bit. And yet, something appeared to have stirred within Yoba, as he turned to see who else was all there with the wizard.

Somewhere in the back, he could see a woman he knew to be his vessel’s mother. She held the armless Shadow Monster to her chest, hoping to protect him from any stray monster attacks. He then turned his gaze back to Sam, who was already crying.

“...Very well,” he muttered. He shook himself free, and walked toward the commotion.

As he did, he watched as the Wizard cast a spell to set a group of skeletons on fire. Next to him, Marlon and Abigail were slashing as much as they could. Finally, the Dwarf kept lobbing cherry bombs at the advancing Shamans.

Somehow, he realized, these people were insistent on keeping their diseased, wounded land alive. He didn’t really understand why, but despite himself, he dropped his head in shame, and resignation.

Clenching his fists, Yoba trembled with an emotion he couldn’t put a name to. He grimaced at the feeling of his nails digging into his own palms. Then, with a power that even he could not believe came forth, he shouted his one-word command to the monsters that remained standing:

“< ** _Enough_** ** _!_** >”


	47. Tell Me What You Want

In a haze of confusion, the monsters withdrew from the attacking intruders, as per Yoba’s one-word order. All of them then retreated back to stand near their master, continuing to let out a few hisses here and there. 

With everyone still in a state of absolute bafflement, Yoba passed his gaze upon everyone else: from Sam, then to the wizard and his fellow combatants. 

Finally, he set his gaze upon Robin, who slowly let go of Krobus. Without saying another word, he extended his arm and beckoned her to him with two of his fingers. Robin started to approach him with some amount of reluctance, as though being controlled by him. 

“Oh, you be careful now, Robby,” Marlon uttered as she passed by him. “No telling what his plans with you are.” Robin just quick glanced at him over his shoulder and smiled. 

“I’ll be alright, Marlon,” she told him. But even then, her voice didn’t sound completely convincing. 

…

Sam was just staring dumbfounded as he watched Sebastian’s mother come forward, at an almost painfully slow pace. He looked over at his own mother, who looked quite worried herself, but that was about it. 

His heavy breathing could be heard by everyone else, as he tried not to run forward and shove Robin away. The atmosphere was just so tense. 

Once she was close enough, Robin straightened herself up, in an attempt to hide her nervousness. 

“So…” Her voice was a bit strained. “You’re the earth deity Yoba.”

He nodded once, slowly. “I am. And you are the mother of whom I have chosen for my mission. He has spoken highly of you.” 

Robin didn’t know if she should be flattered by that or not. She took a quick look at Sam, then back to Yoba. 

“He also tells me you are a carpenter by profession. Is this true?”

Now Robin grew fearful, well aware of what Yoba was trying to get at now. Behind her, she could hear Marlon shifting about, just in case Yoba intended to lash out at her. 

“That is true, but…” She almost couldn’t get the words out. “I don’t cut down more than I need! I would always give the wilderness a chance to recover before taking on any new carpentry jobs.”

“He has told me that, as well. That you are considerate of the land, despite your profession, it pleases me.” 

Here, Yoba smiled a little. “The skills you possess may be of use to me, in but a short time. But first…” Then Yoba turned his attention back to Sam. 

“Despite the violent and impulsive manner I acted toward you earlier, have you still considered my offer?” 

Sam could only stand there, a bit at a loss, before nodding. He stepped forward. 

“Uh, before I do, though…” His hands were shaking tremendously. “Is your offer negotiable?” 

To his relief, Yoba nodded as well. “I am willing to hear your requests.”

Upon raising one of his hands, Yoba brought forth a wall of fire, separating him and Sam from the others. 

Rasmodius was about to conjure a counter spell for it, until Linus was at his side, halting him. 

“He knows what he is doing, my friend,” he whispered. Rasmodius just gave him a stunned look, before becoming calm again and stopping his magic. 

…

Sam looked over his shoulder, past the wall of flame. His hopes that he could keep Yoba from destroying the world were getting a bit shaky. 

Nonetheless, he managed to keep his composure. Even as he faced Yoba now, looking right into his golden eyes, he kept himself together. 

“Now then…” Yoba said to him, as he took hold of his idol and placed it onto his own chest. “Ask of me that which you desire in all of this.”

“Well…” Sam hesitated a bit. “I think there might be a chance for this world to recover, so...If you want me to carry out your mission or whatever...Will you promise not to destroy the current world?” 

Yoba looked a bit taken aback, but then nodded. “I will.”

When Sam remained quiet, Yoba took this as a sign to ask his own questions. It actually went quickly, almost mercifully so. 


	48. Taking Up the Mantle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really short because...I don't know, reasons.

“Do you promise to pledge your life, in the name of Yoba?”

Sam nodded. “I do.”

“Do you swear to spread the word of Yoba, no matter how difficult or arduous it will be to do so?”

“I do.”

Sam took a quick glance through the flames again, wondering if everyone else could hear all of this.

“Will you do your hardest to convince the people of this world to bring forth healing to the land?”

“Yes, I will.”

Yoba held up his idol, away from his chest, and towards Sam. “And do you promise to always remember the events that have surrounded this one? Will you never forget all that has transpired, and do your best to prevent it from happening once again?”

“I do, and I will.”

At his words, Sam watched as Yoba’s idol began to shine brightly. As it did, he took hold of it, feeling the warmth radiating from it.

Yoba then turned to the wall of fire, and dispelled it with a wave of his hand.

“Go now,” he said in a soft, almost whisper like voice. “Do as I have asked of you. Do all that is in your power to prevent this from happening again.”

As Yoba looked back to him, Sam could've sworn he saw a flicker of green flash against his blank golden eyes.

 _Sebastian_.

But Sam didn't bring this up. All he did was walk back to the others, with Robin following behind him.

Once they were both back in the other room, Sam and Robin ran to their loved ones, into their relieved embraces. Then they all directed their attention back to Yoba.

“Sebastian…” Robin whispered, as Yoba stood eerily still. She watched as he began to shed tears once again, bowing his head as though in penitence.

As he cried, Yoba lifted his arms to resemble the shape of his symbol. He then brought his fingers together, before snapping them in preparation for an as yet unknown event.

A short while after he did, the cave began to shake, this time of an incredible magnitude. Jets of lava spewed forth, surrounding him.

“Surely I don't have to reiterate what I’ve repeated before?!” Rasmodius cried out. Once more, he proceeded to bring forth a magical sphere to envelop everybody.

Abigail clutched onto Krobus, as some kind of safety measure. The others followed suit, grabbing on to each other.

Right before everyone was teleported out, Abigail saw Yoba encasing himself in lava, not looking up once at everyone.

…

The first thing everyone noticed upon their magical sphere dissolving was the sudden rush of fresh air. The second thing was the clear sky above them; not a cloud in sight, and the sun was shining brilliantly.

Were it not for the immense carnage around them, they’d have assumed it had all simply been a dream.

“Is it over?” Jodi asked, her voice cutting through the silence as she stood up straight and looked around. The Dwarf climbed up onto her shoulders, and placed his hand above his eyes, as though on lookout.

Linus took his own glances, before nodding slowly. “I believe it is. I sense no more imminent disasters caused by Yoba.”

Indeed, the rumbling of the earth had stopped; all was calm.


	49. Where Do We Go From Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now what?

Rasmodius was the first to break the silence, with his footsteps against the ground, and again with his voice. He looked directly at Sam and Jodi. 

“It would seem I owe the both of you an apology,” he told them somberly. “I had thought the boy would hasten the earth’s destruction. In fact, he was the one to halt it. And now…” 

Sam lifted up the idol he had so the others could see it better. It still retained a faint glow from underneath his fingers. 

“He wants me to go and spread the word of Yoba? Could I really be able to do that? I mean...That would mean I’d have to leave this place…”

Sam looked over at his mother, who was still holding the Dwarf in her arms. She strode over and stretched out a hand to place on his shoulder. 

“I know you can do it, honey,” she told him with a smile on her face. The Dwarf then reached his own arms out and wrapped them around Sam’s neck. “See? He thinks so, too!” 

To confirm this, the Dwarf pulled back and nodded. He then buried his head into the crook of Sam’s neck, and went, “Sam!” as he did. This made Sam and everyone else grin. 

“Thanks, little buddy,” he said to him when Jodi pulled the Dwarf away. 

As this was happening, Marlon and Robin turned back to the now once again blocked entrance. Seeing it brought an ache to Robin’s heart, and tears to her eyes. Marlon saw this, and patted her on her upper arm. 

“You go on and cry, Robby,” he said, watching her lift a hand to her face. “After all that’s happened, you’re allowed to, you know.”

Robin simply nodded, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. Knowing the fate of her son, it felt as though a sword had been lodged into her heart. She then turned and leaned into Marlon’s arms, with him now rubbing her back. 

Nearby, Abigail tore her gaze away from the others, and made her way over to Krobus; being that he didn’t do well in sunlight, he sought relief in the shadow of one of the few trees still standing. 

“Hey, so...If my parents can get their store up and running again, or at least get a new place to live, well…” 

She knelt down in front of him, a smile on her face. “Ever think maybe you have a career as a local store mascot?”

Krobus tilted his head, as though considering her offer. 

“Mas...cot?” He uttered out. 

Abby nodded. “We can find a way so that you don’t have to be out in the sun that often. And if you’re good at it, it’ll bring in customers, which’ll make my dad happy, and…” 

Finally, Linus and Rasmodius looked on, stoic yet relieved at the strangely idyllic if bittersweet scenes before them. 

“This could just be me, Rasmodius,” Linus said, “but watching all this gives me hope for the future, that this land can rebuild, and recover.”

He crossed his arms and looked over at the wizard. “Wouldn’t you say so, my friend?” 

Rasmodius gave a single nod. “Indeed. I share your thoughts and feelings on it all.”

Now he glanced directly at Linus. “To think, that Yoba’s destruction could not only be stopped, but perhaps even reversed…”

He looked back to the others, and nodded again. “Yes. To know that the world has a chance, that is most relieving to me.” 

Willing his feet to move again, Rasmodius approached the others, namely Sam and Jodi. 

…

“Hm? Hey, what is it, Wizard dude?” 

Sam and Jodi were a little confused when Rasmodius came to them without much of a warning. They didn’t shoo him away when he took hold of his hat and placed it over his chest, though. 

“If permitted, may I aid you in preparation for your journey? Consider it penance for my atrocious behavior towards the both of you throughout all of this.” 

Jodi and her son glanced at each other for about a second, then back to the wizard before grinning and answering in approval. The Dwarf, still being held in Jodi’s arms, stuck one of his arms out and gave him a thumbs up. 

Rasmodius was pleased at their acceptance of his offer. He then put his hat back on, and walked over to Robin and Marlon. This time, Linus joined him. 

“Hm?” Robin’s eyes were still red-rimmed when she saw the other two come closer. Rasmodius made his intent clear rather quickly. 

“It has just occurred to me; although I have the capabilities to restore the natural aspect of this land, I cannot restore the man-made aspects. Could you lend your carpentry skills in this?” 

Marlon and Robin stared at him for a little bit, then looked over at Linus. 

“If you worry about how nature will feel, I will help you in this,” was what he said. His reassurance seemed good enough. 

“Well, Robby?” Marlon patted her on the shoulder. “What do you say? Think you can undertake the task of rebuilding an entire town?” 

Robin stared in surprise and awe, letting a couple more tears slide down her face, before putting on a slightly tense smile and told them her answer: 

“Of course I can.”


	50. So Long, Farewell

_-three months later-_

The entire town had shown up to see Sam off, at the now re-established bus stop.

Thanks to the help of Rasmodius and the others, Pelican Town was already beginning to regain a few shades of its former glory. Pierre’s shop was up and running again, and the doctor’s office was rebuilt under Maru’s ownership.

Of course, there was no replacing the lives that had been lost in the tragedy, but there was no helping that; the remaining townsfolk simply had to respect and honor their memories as best they could.

Sam was going to miss this place, but he couldn’t help that either. As much as he loved Pelican Town regardless of its state, his mission was more important.

A man of his word, Rasmodius made certain to help Sam prepare for his journey. He’d given him various things about Yoba to read, so he knew what he was going to spread. Along with that, he’d also taught him various defense methods and protected him with certain spells, in case things got too rough.

But there was one particular change that the wizard hadn’t been involved with. Instead, it had been Abigail’s work. She’d known right away what he was going to do when he asked if she had any black hair dye.

Reaching up to touch his hair, Sam just gave off a sad smile at the drastic change that had been made to it. He’d just hoped it’d have made Sebastian proud, or at least some sort of impressed. According to his mother, Robin had actually done a double take when she’d seen him.

Soon, the time had come to leave. As expected, there were tears coming from his mother’s eyes, though she’d quickly wiped them away.

“Make sure you be careful out there, all right, honey? I’d also appreciate it if you’d come back to visit every once in a while,” She told him as she hugged him.

“I will, Mom.” Then, he shifted his attention to the Dwarf, who’d been clinging to Vincent. “Take care of my family while I’m gone, okay little guy?”

The Dwarf just padded over and hugged Sam’s leg tightly. Vincent followed, hugging his older brother as well.

“Promise you’ll send me lots of cool stuff, okay?”

Sam just chuckled, and nodded. “Okay, Vince.”

“I’ll send your father a letter telling him what happened while he’s off elsewhere,” Jodi piped up. “I’ll tell him you’re off on an important journey.”

She then looked down at the Dwarf, who was now back with Vincent. “I’ll also tell him we have a new family member! And I’ll send him a picture so he doesn’t get the wrong idea.”

“Sounds great, Mom.”

Now, Sam made his way onto the bus, and took a seat. He looked out the window, seeing everyone waving and saying their farewells. With tears in his own eyes now, Sam waved back at them.

He only stopped once the bus started moving.

After he’d left town, Sam reached into the backpack he’d had with him, and pulled out Yoba’s idol. If he hadn’t known any better, he could’ve sworn it was glowing just a little brighter than before.

Placing the idol onto his lap, Sam tilted his head back and closed his eyes, hoping to get some rest before his first stop in his journey.

…

Deep in the lowest possible level in the Underground, in near pitch-black darkness, encased in a large chunk of obsidian hanging from the ceiling, Yoba remained suspended. As he did when he was engulfed by the lava, he was frozen in the shape of his symbol.

No doubt, he was going to be here for a very long time. In fact, if Sam managed to make any progress in his mission to spread the word, he hoped to be down here until the end of time. And for this possibility, he was grateful.

There was also no better place for him to remain in suspended animation than in his own beloved temple. At least for now, he was at peace.

With the knowledge that his word would be known beyond the boundaries of the valley, and with the hope that the legend would not have to come to pass again, Yoba smiled to himself.

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
